Google shares debuted in 2004 and it didn’t take long for the company to hit the $100 billion market cap level.

About Google

Founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998, Google (GOOGL) has gone from a search engine to a technology conglomerate. The company hired Eric Schmidt as CEO in 2001, a move that would expand the company beyond being just a search engine.

In 2003, Google was named the fastest growing technology company. Revenue had grown 437,115% in five years. Revenue went from $220,000 in 1999 to $961.9 million in 2003.

The IPO

 In August 2004, Google went public at $85 per share, valuing the company at $23 billion. The company originally planned at offering shares in a price range of $108 to $135. The auction process for Google’s IPO led to shares pricing lower. In its debut, Google shares traded 18% higher.

After the IPO

Google reported $1.47 billion in revenue for fiscal 2003 with a profit of $105.6 million. Fiscal 2004 saw revenue more than double to $31.2 billion and profit climbed to $399.1 million. In 2005, Google spent $130 million on acquisitions, including a rumored $50 million on a small startup called Android.

Google crossed the $100 billion market cap level in November and also hit the $400 share price level. Shares of Google were up 115% in 2005, closing the year up 115%. The only other times shares saw a triple digit yearly return was 2009, with a gain of +102%.

Since $100 Billion

Android is now the most popular operating system for mobile phones. It took three years for Google to bring the first public version of Android to phones. In 2006, Google spent $1.65 billion to acquire YouTube. Google Chrome was introduced in 2008 and has since taken market share away from Internet Explorer, the web browser from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). In 2015, Google renamed the company Alphabet Inc. to better categorize all its owned brands.

What’s Next

 In 2020, Google became the fourth publicly traded U.S. company to hit a market cap of $1 trillion. The company recently unveiled its new 5G Pixel phone lineup, an update to YouTube TV, and and update for Chromecast.