Alphabet, the new parent company that counts Google as its subsidiary, just announced that it will undertake a monster $US5 billion stock buyback starting in the fourth quarter.
It’s a clever move on Google’s part — but not just because it benefits the company by giving it more control over its stock price since it lowers the number of shares out in the market.
There’s a small Easter egg hidden in the announcement.
The exact number Google chose for its buyback is very precise: $US5099019513.59. That number happens to be a square root of 26 — as several maths-savvy Twitter users first noticed.
Twenty six also happens to be the number of letters in the alphabet.
This isn’t the first time that Google has tucked a clever maths trick into its business. In 2011 when Google was bidding for Nortel Networks’ wireless patents, it offered
@lexnfx It’s the square root of 26 e18th. Those Google guys! They have so much fun with numbers.
— George Anders (@GeorgeAnders) October 22, 2015
@jyarow square root of 26 h/t @modestproposal1
— southp4w (@southp4w) October 22, 2015
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