Alphabet will 'push the envelope' as a tech venture capital firm, claims Google's Larry Page

The A-B-C of Alphabet revealed by Google CEO Page

Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page has revealed more details of exactly what Alphabet, Google's new holding company, has been formed to achieve - and why he decided to restructure Google in the first place.

Speaking at Fortune Magazine's Global Forum 2015 in San Francisco, California yesterday, Page described Alphabet in terms of a venture capital firm; similar in many ways to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire's investment vehicle.

Page described Alphabet as having "aspects of Berkshire" when questioned, but mildly deflected the issue, saying it was too early to say just how wide Alphabet may reach.

He did concede, however, that he felt his job as CEO is to "create a scale that we haven't quite seen from other companies", and stressed that Alphabet would maintain a "technology, science and engineering bent".

He continued: "I want to push the envelope for what's possible for an innovative company with large resources."

In terms of the restructuring itself, which includes Google as the main part of Alphabet, with other initiatives playing second fiddle but still being classed as separate companies in their own right, Page simply said the structure reflects the "reality" of Google's ongoing interests.

Famous for his so-called "moonshots" - far-fetched R&D concepts such as driverless cars and walking robots - Page does seem determined to give such concepts a more recognisable role in the new corporate structure, bringing several other ideas to the table during his Global Forum address. These include the ongoing race to create new fast-internet options for those who currently have trouble accessing the internet at any speed.

"Think about how having your cell phone work anywhere in the world could change your life," said Page, enthusing over Google X's ongoing "Project Loon" concept, which sees internet access beamed from high-altitude balloons.

He also hinted that an aim with Alphabet - perhaps in relation to recent claims about Amazon being a "dystopian" place, not to mention criticism that Google has, in the past, found itself the target of - is to make the company enjoyable to work at.

"Companies have pretty bad reputations," Page said. "It's not like a lot of people wake up in the morning and say, 'I want to go work for a company'. They do it because they have to."