In the world is ruth parat. She started an as investment banker at Morgan Stanley. And recruited a way to be the c. F. O. Of google and now of alphabet. Influence. Mous i think she would be a terrific candidate for secretary of the treasury. She would be a terrific candidate for that position. During this period of time, google has done quite whelm fall bet has done quite well. Your stock has gone up. By the time you became the c. F. O. The stock is up over 00 . So done quite well under your leadership. Im curious. Are more people doing searches now during this covid period o time than ever before . Or are people not spending as much time searching . No, people are spending a lot of time searching. We have trillions of searching, precovid, post covid. Its really the nature of searches that changed. And so early in the crisis, people really migrated to shifting for information about the disease, what they needed to know, all information about covid. You then saw people shift to, ok, how am i going to live my life in a covid world. More howto. How do i cook . What i do with wellness and meditation . Now, youre seeing people move back into more commercial activities. And i think one of the big surges that we saw was how you can i how can i help in my community . How you can i help others . And its really quite inspiring to see through search how people are feeling about the world. Most of your employees are working remotely. Is that correct . So we moved everybody to remote work from home all 120,000 of us. But as countries are opening up, were starting to move people back in. For example until taiwan were about 70 in places in europe were bringing some people back. But fundamentally, we moved everybody to work from home. Did you worry it would be a problem because you have all these people because youre technically very savvy . When we started to move to work from home, it seemed daunting. I put together a really strong governance about how to we get people to move from home with a global team and a Regional Team and we were in sync daily. What we were most concerned about is productivity and wellness. Our chief medical officer very early in the crisis said that more people would be affected by Mental Health issues than the physical disease itself. So we focused on those two. And i think that was really important. The other thing is google is really about our people and the ability to to deliver for users and communities because of our compete capacity. And one of the things we didnt have to worry about was our ability to to really deal with this search and online activity. And that was because of all the investments over many years and all of the testing for what could happen in a sort of crisis scenario. And i i think its an important point because you cant solve the Risk Management issue in the middle of a crisis. You obviously need to solve it ahead of time and that worked. So Many Companies are saying now you that ive learned that my people can work from home, maybe i dont need all these people in the us a or i dont need all these people. Is that your view . We believe that when people are together thats a critical element for innovation. Collaboration helps support innovation. Its collaborations across teams. Its collaboration and its serendipity. So we do look forward to having people back in the office. What were looking at is the productivity lift you have when you have people work at home and be in the office when they work with their teams or more broadly teams stay in the office. If you can save people commute time because youre solving what people want in their personal life. Its actually going to result in a better outcome. What that means for real estate, were still figuring out. Early on, google was well known for among other things, youve got free food. What about if youre working at home. Do you give them free food showing up by delivery somehow or how do they compensate for that . So were not doing that. But, you you know, a lot of people focus on food, when really what we are trying to create have been trying to create is this one quirky magical campus. Its more about than just the free food. Its the experience on campus. What we did when we moved everybody to home, is we moved a lot of these sort of connecting the community to a virtual delivery. And so for food as an example, ou can do a oneonone class with the chef. We moved virtual fitness classes and goofy google style once like yoga with your dog. What have you learned about yourself during this time . One thing that was gratifying if i can broaden this is what i thought about my colleagues. This has been an extraordinary stressful time. We feel this responsibility because so many people are counting on us for quality information, for the ability to stay connected. What i saw you is people step up in a meaningful way. People working 24 7 around the clock. And that was inspiring. Its been an extraordinary time. What i learned about myself is one of the positive elements of of this has been sheltering in place and having my kids who have graduated from college. Theyre now back with us for at least a limited period of time. And thats been remarkable. My husband and i have thoroughly enjoyed that. So some people say that the googles of the world, google, facebook, microsoft, apple, amazon are too powerful. They have so much power in our economy that its not healthy. And theres been a congressional hearings recently with your c. E. O. Testified. What is your response to the view that the Technology Companies are becoming so dominant in our economy thats its not healthy. We are mindful of the fact that with the scale of these companies comes scrutiny and its incumbent upon us to engage with regulators and show them what were doing and how were providing services at lower costs which is indicative of the competitive nature of the world in which we operate. Weve got intense competitors in the u. S. And outside of the u. S. I think this covid experience, Many Companies and individuals would not have been able to operate the way they did without the support and benefit from technology. But its a fair question. And were engaged constructively here and around the globe with regular or thes on it. You have more than 100 billion of cash on your balance sheet, which is a lot of cash. Why do you need all that cash . Why not just dividend it out . Are you going to use it for investment . At ten of the Second Quarter e had 120 billion but whos counting, youre right . There had been a long standing view that it was helpful to have cash because of the optionality it provided. And i think the question i posed was you how much is too much and how much is too little . And can we actually try and dimension that analytically . And put together, you know, the the data that led to a conversation about beginning a purchase program. And it started small. But increased it five times in the last number of years. The last one we just did in the Second Quarter. Its a 28 billion authorization. So its been a journey. And weve weve been increasing the return to capital. You know, i spent a big chunk of my career covering firms like private equity firms that do appreciate what an efficient capital structure looks like and this is trying to get the balance. Was it harder breaking the Technology World as a woman or is it hard tore break into the financial world as a woman . I think theyre actually pretty similar. The difference, its a more collaborative environment. In tech i would say. Wall street can be pretty pretty rough. David lets talk about your background how you came to be the c. F. O. At google, alphabet and Morgan Stanley. Where were you born . I was born in england. My father was a holocaust survivor. A refugee. He escaped from vienna david when he was a teenager. When he was 16. He had no College Education or high school education. As soons he could he enlisted in the british army. He was in the battle of montgomery. His view was the only way to find peace was to find a skill that people needed. So he decided to teach himself physics while in the army. And he used to always tell his kids that his fellow soldiers would tease him you will die before you use this physics. And his answer was if i die i want to diane educated man. After the war, he was one of the lucky ones. He was given a place at the university of manchester. He got a masters degree, a ph. D. Thats where i was born. And then was given a position at harvard. The only two places he worked was harvard and stanford. And so we moved to Silicon Valley and thats where i grew up. You went to stanford undergrad . I did. Did you major in finance . Economics and International Relations and thought i would be a lawyer just like you. David well, you were smart not to do that. You went to warden m. B. A. School. And you went to wall street . I actually went from stanford to the London School of economics in warden. I assumed i would be a consultant. I was convinced that what i wanted to do is work with companies and help them understand their problems. But then i took a fascinating course and a great teacher and he opened my eyes to this great thing called wall street. I was completely convinced i was doing one thing. But to completely convinced the only thing i wanted to do was mergers. When you worked at Morgan Stanley was it 50 women . Far from it. It was 1987. And it was sort of the stone age for for any sort of sense of what was the role of women in banking. In fact, i think that general attitude was that those of us you who were there would get married, have kids and leave. We didnt have the stamina. It was just a question of time. And i loved morgan stanly. I think Morgan Stanley was the best of the best. And that was sort of theer those on wall street. And the ethos on wall street. I was working on a deal. I was pregnant with our first child. And the partner actually turned to the client and said, ruth may come back after the first child. But theres no way shell come back after the second child. And fortunately, the client liked me a lot more than he liked his partner and basically told him he was an id you. But that really made told him he was and it i. D. Yot. And that made an impression on me. The thing was that there were so many extraordinary men who bet on me, helped opened doors. I didnt know at the time those were sponsors. But thats what they were. David you became the c. F. O. At some point you were one of the most important people in Morgan Stanley. And the u. S. Government came and said come and work at the treasury department. Did you consider doing that . I was in the 2008 crisis when secretary paulson asked me to lead a team to help him with the housing the housing crisis. And spent, you know, the entire period working on fannie mae and freddie mac and than evolved on a. I. G. And i thought it was extraordinary to be able to use skills i developed over decades for Morgan Stanley for something so important in the country. That remains one of the most meaningful times. You were doing that as an employee . I was. But Morgan Stanley went through a crisis, im sure you remember it with Morgan Stanley was close to maybe not being able to survive, and then a japanese investor said well put in some money that money was at three times the stock price that you were trading at and people rent sure if the Japanese Company mitsubishi would show up. Were you fearful that mitsubishi wouldnt show up with the money you . Money . The Lehman Brothers famous weekend followed by a call by the federal resolve saying we had worked on we collectively worked on the wrong thing. We needed to work to a. I. G. And asked me to get back to the Federal Reserve that sunday evening. They said a. I. G. Would be out of money on wednesday. In fact, it was tuesday when they were out of money. And thats the point at which Morgan Stanley was running into its own very severe liquidity crisis. David Morgan Stanley ossspered through the period prospered through the period of time. And then someone contacted you and said we would like you you to be the c. F. O. Were you surprise that offer because you were a wall street person . You werent a Technology Person . It was a very different path to the question. I was on the stanford board. And had the opportunity to spend some time with bill cammable who was an iconic coach to so many people, to larry, to sergey to eric schmidt to steve jobs. I left the Board Meeting and went to his home to talk about life, generally. And he started probing what next . What would i want to do . And my comment to him was i didnt know at some point i would want another chapter. But one thing i would know for certain i would not leave Morgan Stanley as c. F. O. To be c. F. O. Anywhere else. He kept coming back for two hours to that strong assertion. Attend of two hours, he said, ok, you wouldnt leave to be a c. F. O. Anywhere else. And im adamant. He said you should be the c. F. O. Of google. And of course, the two of us burst into laughter. Well, that one i would do. I didnt believe it. I left his home and didnt actually believe it was real or that it would happen. And within a couple of hours he called and said go over to larry pages house and spend some time with him see if it works. David you went over to see larry page and you you said i heard about you. I want to be c. F. O. . So i had different interactions through the sanford board. We had fascinating conversations as larry page always. Is i left not actually believing that it would happen. And quickly everything came together. So you took the position. But now, youre going to be breaking into another world where women are not that prominent. Was it harder breaking into Technology World as a woman or is it hard tore break into the financial world as woman . Well, when i broke into the financial world i was junior. I think its harder when youre junior than someone who is credentialed. Which world is tougher, wall street or tech . Both have evolved meaningfully since those days of the boys club on wall street that were so painful. And i think theres a much greater awareness that its not the right thing to do to have diversity in senior ranks throughout an organization. But it leads to better outcomes. And so i think that theyre actually pretty similar. The difference is theres its a more collaborative environment. In tech i would say, wall street can be pretty pretty rough. But the most test tostronefilled place is wall street or Silicon Valley . Theres a lot of testosterone. Theres enough to go around. Youre a fairly buttoned down c. F. O. At Morgan Stanley. Youre very precise. Google is probably a less precise place when you get there, right . Theyre making so much money they dont have to worry about every little dollar, i guess. Did you say we have to change things. And people say we dont want to change . Were doing well or did people say yes, we want to change . Throughout my career, my view has been if you actually anchor your points in data, it become very easy to engage people and what is the issue and whats the proper path forward . And one of the extraordinary things at google is we have very smart and very inquisitive people. So as i laid out whatever issue it is anchored in data, it engaged the conversation. And so i actually didnt find it to be discord nant. I was in fact, impressed with the news, yes, through in the new idea. Er let us understand what and why. Its been a journey. You seem to have it all. Whats the secret to having it all . To me, the most important thing is to find a mix in life that works for you. David so i assume youre coming to us from your bedroom because youre like many people working from your home because of covid. Is that a Fair Assessment . Its actually my sons old bedroom rather than my current bedroom. Were locked down in covid and working under the home. So how have you found that to be . People would presume youre pretty good at adapting. Was it harder than you thought or easier than you thought . The hardest thing for us in producing our films and series because thats very much on set in a physical realm. And were working on that but i would say its the hallmark of the culture to be very adaptive. No one waits for me to tell them what to do. And when you you built a culture as we have, everybody pitches in and figures out what they need to do. An example would be an animation group. I had nothing to do with it. Cant take the credit. But they move hundreds of workstations out of the office into the home in the weekend and have continued to produce great, animated films and series from the house in a way that was remarkable and not centrally directed. Many c. E. O. s with whom ive talked say offcamera that theyre not going to be hiring back everybody they once have. They realize they can get by with fewer people and they dont need as much office space because many people are happy to work from home. Would that be true in your case . The virus has been so tragic for people, for the economy, for unemployment, and certainly hotels and other businesses like that are down. Fortunately, as an Internet Business were actually ups, so we continue to hire all the way through this crisis. And were adding New Buildings still. So, you know, were incredibly fortunate. David so alphabet is the parent company. Youre the c. F. O. Of that and of google. Google is the Search Engine and thats profitable by anybodys standard. I dont know if you like the word massive but its profitable. Doing all right. David what about Cloud Computing . The number one is amazon. The number two is microsoft. But its an important Growth Engine as well . Its an important one. Its a sizable market in very, very early beginnings. It provide