Google Founders Named FT Men of the Year

The Financial Times has named Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both 32, "Men of the Year" (subscription required) for the transformative effect their company is having not only on the Internet but on the worlds of business and technology. The FT notes that the Google founders "have never been shy about their outsize ambitions."

Sometimes, it pays to think big. Talk to Sergey Brin, one of the founders of Google, and it quickly becomes clear that he does not want to be constrained by the normal measures of success that define daily existence for most of humanity. “We try to pursue big rewards, either in terms of building the business or for outcomes for the world,” he says...

"Making the world a better place" was one of the goals they laid out in an unusual statement at the time of their company's debut on Wall Street last year and that idea is never far from the surface.

The FT article doesn't say much about exactly how the two plan to make the world a better place, perhaps because not much is known. But it seems a safe bet that if they are serious about this goal then they will eventually focus on development issues, including perhaps rich world development policies. It also seems a safe bet that they will approach the problems differently than others have done. Worth watching!