15 Fun Facts You Should Know About Sergey Brin

Sergey Brin Facts – Biography

Sergey Brin is the co-founder of the online search company Google.

While Larry Page, his business partner runs the company, Brin takes care of the special Google projects.

Here are some interesting facts about this successful internet darling:

1. Sergey and his family emigrated to the U.S. in 1979 to escape the covert prosecution of Jews in Russia.

He was only seven years when he came to the U.S. and he struggled to learn English and to adapt to the new culture.

2. The Montessori schooling system coupled with partial home schooling helped young Sergey to learn English (while still maintaining his Russian language) and to develop his interest in creativity and invention.

Math was his favorite subject.

3. When he was 17, Sergey travelled back to Moscow accompanied by his parents and a group of gifted students.

To express his anger at the oppressive communist regime, Sergey threw a stone at a police car.

His parents had to plead with the police to forgive Sergey.

4. Page and Brin were looking to name Google as the “What Box.”

However, Brin did not fancy the idea because the name sounded like “wet box” which he thought sounded like pornography.

5. Brin together with Page rented their first office from Susan Wojcicki.

It turns out fate was setting up Brin for something great because he soon met Anne Wojcicki, Susan’s sister and married her in 2007.

He has one child with his wife Anne who is also a technology geek.

6. For his wedding Brin flew his wedding guests to an unknown location on the jet he owns with Page.

The guests finally landed in the Bahamas.

Anne, his bride wore a white swimming custom while Brin wore a black one.

They swam to the shore where they exchanged their marriage vows.

7. Brin co-authored “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” which is one of the most sort-after academic papers in his Alma Mater, Stanford University.

8. Back in college, Brin volunteered to orient a group of students that Larry Page was part of at Stanford.

This is how Brin and Page met and started to exchange ideas about a search engine.

Brin did not become Page’s friend instantly; they had to work at developing their friendship.

9. Brin’s mother is being treated for Parkinson’s disease.

Through the personal genetics service 23andMe founded by his wife, Brin discovered that he, like his mother possesses the LRRK2 gene that predisposes him to a 20/80 chance of developing Parkinson’s disease.

To ward off the development of the degenerative Parkinson’s disease, Brin has become an avid diver, acrobat and regularly practices yoga.

10. According to a study by Forbes in 2009, Brin was the fifth most powerful person in the world, a position he tied with Larry Page.

In 2009, Brin was also inaugurated into the National Academy of Engineering for his remarkable contribution to the field of engineering.

11. Other than Google, Brin is also involved in clean energy investment.

Through Google.org, he participates in philanthropic activities to promote the use of renewable energy.

12. In 2008, Sergey paid $4.5 million to Space Adventures, a space exploration and tourism company to reserve a seat in a space shuttle tour to the moon set to take place in about four years.

13. Brin owns a custom made jet and a Boeing 767-200.

He and Page pay up to $1.3 million each year to pack their air toys at the Moffet Federal Airfield.

14. Sergey is not just a tech geek; he does movies too.

He was the co-producer of the film Broken Arrows that was written and directed by Reid Gershbein.

The film was released in 2007.

15. Given the massive success Google Inc has enjoyed over the years, Brin is definitely one of the richest men in the world.

In America, he is the 13th richest person with $16.7 billion as his net worth.