Daughter of Google CEO Sundar Pichai's Batchmate Shares Rare Photo From His IIT Convocation Day

An unreleased photograph featuring Google CEO Sundar Pichai on his IIT Kharagpur convocation day is gaining widespread attention on social media. Ananya Lohani, a software engineer whose father was in the same batch at IIT-Kharagpur as Sundar Pichai, shared the image on X, where it quickly went viral.

The Photo Also Has Sharmistha Dubey, CEO Of Match Group That Owns Dating Apps Like Tinder And OkCupid

The photograph captures Google CEO Sundar Pichai alongside the sole woman in their class, Sharmistha Dubey. Dubey, an India-born American executive, later ascended to the position of CEO at Match Group, the parent company of various dating apps including Tinder and OkCupid.

?“My dad just shared this picture of his IIT KGP convocation (1993) with him, Sundar Pichai and Sharmistha Dubey in the same frame,” Delhi-based software developer Ananya Lohani wrote while sharing the photo on X.

“This is absolutely insane…” she added.

Sundar Pichai and Sharmistha Dubey's Journey from Metallurgy Batchmates to Industry Titans

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Pichai and Dubey both graduated from the 1993 batch of B.Tech in Metallurgy at IIT Kharagpur. Pichai's remarkable journey to the top of Silicon Valley is celebrated as a testament to the success of Indian immigrants. Equally noteworthy is the trajectory of his only female classmate at IIT, Sharmistha Dubey, who is acclaimed for revolutionizing the online dating landscape.

Dubey held the position of CEO at Match Group from March 2020 to May 2022. She is credited with introducing the 'Likes You' feature for Tinder in 2017, a significant innovation in the online dating sphere.

Sundar Pichai’s Google Journey

Since assuming leadership of Google in 2015, 51-year-old Pichai has overseen a remarkable period of success, witnessing the company's stock price skyrocket by over 400%. This growth has outpaced both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices. The surge in value has been notably fueled by the recent exponential growth in Google's cloud computing division, driven by advancements in AI technology. Google's first-quarter earnings exceeded predictions, leading to the introduction of dividends for the first time in the company's history.

Pichai's wealth has soared to almost $1 billion, propelled by the surge in Google's stock price, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Sundar Pichai’s Early Life

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Pichai frequently shares his upbringing story, highlighting how he was raised in a modest two-room apartment in Chennai. He and his younger brother slept on the living-room floor, and amenities like television, cars, and even running water were often unavailable to them.

When Pichai was 12, his father's acquisition of a rotary telephone sparked his interest in technology. This, coupled with his curiosity about his father's work as an electrical engineer for British firm GEC, motivated him to pursue a career in the field. His determination led him to secure a place at the prestigious IIT Kharagpur, followed by earning a scholarship to Stanford University. In interviews, Pichai has recounted how his father withdrew $1,000 from the family's savings, an amount exceeding his annual salary, to cover the expenses of Pichai's plane ticket and other necessities.

“My dad and mom did what a lot of parents did at the time,” Pichai said in a 2014 interview. “They sacrificed a lot of their life and used a lot of their disposable income to make sure their children were educated.”