Alphabet’s earnings beat Wednesday was the latest milestone in what’s been an explosive run since early 2023, during which the company has added more than $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion) in market value and returned about 120 per cent to investors. It’s also made its CEO, Sundar Pichai, a billionaire.

With Alphabet’s shares approaching an all-time high, Pichai, 53, is now worth $US1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s a rare feat for a non-founding chief executive officer, especially in a tech industry where many top executives — including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang — owe their fortunes to founding equity stakes in their companies.

Bloomberg Wealth