It's been 10 years since Google's IPO, and the gamble paid off
Anyone who bought Google stock when the initial public offering took place knew there were risks. The stock, based on then-earnings, had a triple-digit P/E. But the buyers were amply compensated. Ten years later, the shares are up 14 times their initial price, and Google has a market value of 400 billion dollars: the third largest market capitalization on the US stock exchange, after Exxon Mobil and Apple. Apple, ten years after its debut, had limited itself to tripling the price; much better, however, did Microsoft (up 90 times since the public offering of March 1986) and Amazon (40 times since the IPO in May 1997).
Google's mission – 'to organize the world's information' – has extended to other aspects of human coexistence. It wants to become the 'button room' of everyday life: self-driving cars will carry people around and deliver the required goods within hours of an online order. People won't even have to leave their homes, where the use of 'smart' appliances and audiovisuals will make life easier.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/technology/view/googles-pivotal-ipo-launched-a-decade-of-big-bets
