Is Alphabet Thinking of Its "Other Bets" All Wrong?

When Google officially changed its name to Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) in 2015, it was a clever play on words. The company could better be described as "Alpha" (the most powerful) and "Bet" (wager).

Google had already become synonymous with search. The advertising revenue it brought in made it a cash machine -- earning the company a place in the now-famous FAANG group. But management -- at the time led by co-founder Larry Page -- wasn't willing to stop there. It wanted to take that extra cash and do good for the world by taking lots of small bets.

Thus, it started focusing on moonshot projects, like self-driving unit Waymo, smart home device Nest, and health-focused Calico, to name just a few. A tech titan trying to do great things for the world. Sounds great, doesn't it?

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Source Fool.com