Larry Page is best known as the co-founder of Google. He was born to a Jewish mother and a father who famously said his “religion was technology,” but Page himself was raised in a non-religious, tech-focused home.
Quick Profile: Larry Page
| Full name | Lawrence Edward Page |
| Born | March 26, 1973 |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | None (raised secular) |
| Profession | Computer engineer, scientist, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-founding Google; co-creating PageRank; leading Alphabet |
| Net worth | $233 billion (2025 estimate) |
What religion is Larry Page?
Despite his Jewish ancestry, Page’s public record shows no religious practice. His mother was raised in the Jewish faith, and his maternal grandfather even moved to Israel, but Page has said that his home was “secular” and that he “never had a bar mitzvah”. He grew up hearing that his father’s “religion was technology,” and he never adopted any formal religion himself. In interviews and profiles, Page has indicated that he does not identify with Judaism or any other faith. As one source notes, Page “does not follow any formal religion,” preferring a scientific and entrepreneurial worldview over spiritual beliefs.
Early Life
Page was born on March 26, 1973, in Lansing, Michigan. Both of his parents were computer scientists, his father, Carl Victor Page Sr., held a PhD in computer science and taught at Michigan State University, and his mother, Gloria, was a computer programming instructor there. The family moved to the suburbs of East Lansing, and Page grew up surrounded by technology and books. At age six he mastered an early personal computer that his father brought home, and he spent his childhood tinkering, taking things apart, and coding with family support.
Page and his older brother even built a science project using Lego bricks in college. He attended East Lansing High School (graduating in 1991) and went on to study engineering. Page earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering (with honors) at the University of Michigan in 1995, majoring in computer engineering, and then completed a Master’s in Computer Science at Stanford University in 1998.
Personal Life
Page keeps a relatively private personal life. In 2007 he married Lucinda “Lucy” Southworth, a biologist whom he met through a mutual family friend. The couple wed on entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Necker Island, and they have two children, a son born in 2009 and a daughter born in 2011.
Page and Southworth live mainly in California, though they also own a home in New Zealand (and Page holds New Zealand residency). Besides their private foundation (see below), Page does not give many interviews. He is known to focus on technology and innovation rather than personal beliefs, consistent with the secular environment in which he was raised.
Career and Google
Larry Page co-founded Google while a graduate student at Stanford, and his career since then has been devoted to growing the company. In 1996 he and Sergey Brin developed the PageRank algorithm and built an early search engine prototype. They officially incorporated Google, Inc. in 1998, renting a garage in Menlo Park to work on the project. Page initially served as CEO of Google (1997–2001) and again later when Google became part of the newly formed Alphabet (2011–2015).
Under his leadership Google grew rapidly, by 2000 Google was indexing over one billion web pages and redefining Internet search. The company’s founding mission was “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. Page guided Google through its initial public offering (IPO) in 2004 and the acquisition of Android, which became the world’s most popular mobile operating system by 2010. In 2015 Google restructured into Alphabet Inc.; Page became CEO of Alphabet and continued to oversee Google’s most ambitious projects. He stepped down from the CEO role in late 2019 but remains a board member and major shareholder of Alphabet. Today he is a centibillionaire, with an estimated net worth on the order of $233 billion, making him one of the richest people on the planet.
Philanthropy
Beyond Google, Page and his family have funded several philanthropic efforts. He and his wife Lucinda oversee the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation (named in honor of his father). This private foundation focuses on areas like education, medicine, welfare and maternal health. Its assets grew with Google’s success, reaching roughly $6.7 billion by 2021– making it one of the largest private foundations in the country.
In 2010 Page signed The Giving Pledge, a commitment by wealthy individuals to donate the majority of their wealth. He has said that he would prefer his fortune go toward funding big ideas and entrepreneurs (for example, supporting Elon Musk’s plans for Mars exploration) rather than simply bequeathing it to his children. In interviews he explained that helping engineers and innovators “change the world” is a worthy goal for his resources. Through Google’s own philanthropy arm (Google.org) and his foundation, Page has supported clean-energy research, education initiatives, and other long-term causes rather than any particular faith-based projects.
Influence and Values
Larry Page is widely admired for his visionary approach. He famously encourages a “moonshot” mentality, pursuing goals that are ten times bigger, not just 10% improvements. Wired magazine reported that Page expects projects to be “10x better than the competition” and believes modest tweaks are not enough to succeed wildly.
Under his leadership Google took on audacious projects, from self-driving cars and internet balloons to bold ideas like the Hyperloop. Page personally backed start-ups outside Google, investing in flying-car ventures such as Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk. These efforts underscore his drive to use technology to solve big problems. Throughout his career, Page’s values have centered on innovation, speed, and ethical ambition (famously including the slogan “Don’t be evil” in Google’s early code of conduct).
