Sergey Brin 127
is going to pay a heavy price for its move, which is why it deserves praise for refusing to censor its service in
China."[31] The New Republic adds that "Google seems to have arrived at the same link that was obvious to Andrei
Sakharov: the one between science and freedom," referring to the move as "heroism."[32]Awards and recognition
In 2002, Brin, along with Larry Page, was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100, as one of the top 100
innovators in the world under the age of 35.[33]
In 2003, both Brin and Page received an honorary MBA from IE Business School "for embodying the
entrepreneurial spirit and lending momentum to the creation of new businesses...".[34] And in 2004, they received the
Marconi Foundation Prize, the "Highest Award in Engineering", and were elected Fellows of the Marconi
Foundation at Columbia University. "In announcing their selection, John Jay Iselin, the Foundation's president,
congratulated the two men for their invention that has fundamentally changed the way information is retrieved
today." They joined a "select cadre of 32 of the world's most influential communications technology pioneers..."[35]
In 2004, Brin received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award with Larry Page at a ceremony in
Chicago, Illinois.
In November 2009, Forbes magazine decided Brin and Larry Page were the fifth most powerful people in the
world.[36] Earlier that same year, in February, Brin was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, which is
"among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer ... [and] honors those who have made
outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice...". He was selected specifically, "for leadership in
development of rapid indexing and retrieval of relevant information from the World Wide Web."[37]
In their "Profiles" of Fellows, the National Science Foundation included a number of earlier awards:
"he has been a featured speaker at the World Economic Forum and the Technology, Entertainment and Design
Conference. ... PC Magazine has praised Google [of] the Top 100 Web Sites and Search Engines (1998) and
awarded Google the Technical Excellence Award, for Innovation in Web Application Development in 1999.
In 2000, Google earned a Webby Award, a People's Voice Award for technical achievement, and in 2001, was
awarded Outstanding Search Service, Best Image Search Engine, Best Design, Most Webmaster Friendly
Search Engine, and Best Search Feature at the Search Engine Watch Awards."[38]
According to Forbes he is the 15th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of US$16.7 billion in 2012.[39]Other interests
Brin is working on other, more personal projects that reach beyond Google. For example, he and Page are trying to
help solve the world’s energy and climate problems at Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, which invests in the
alternative energy industry to find wider sources of renewable energy. The company acknowledges that its founders
want "to solve really big problems using technology."[40]
In October 2010, for example, they invested in a major offshore wind power development to assist the East coast
power grid,[41] which may eventually become the first "offshore wind farm" in the United States.[42] A week earlier
they introduced a car that, with "artificial intelligence," can drive itself using video cameras and radar sensors.[40] In
the future, drivers of cars with similar sensors would have fewer accidents. These safer vehicles could therefore be
built lighter and require less fuel consumption.[43]
They are trying to get companies to create innovative solutions to increasing the world's energy supply.[44] He is an
investor in Tesla Motors, which has developed the Tesla Roadster, a 244-mile (unknown operator: u'strong' km)
range battery electric vehicle.
Brin has appeared on television shows and many documentaries, including Charlie Rose, CNBC, and CNN. In 2004,
he and Larry Page were named "Persons of the Week" by ABC World News Tonight. In January 2005 he was