Google, Inc., business check, 6 x 2.75, filled out in another hand and signed by Page, "Lawrence Page," payable to Larry Page for $7,475.53, June 18, 1999, also endorsed on the reverse by Page, "for deposit only, Lawrence Page." Google's address is given as "165 University Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301," otherwise known as the 'Lucky Building' or 'Karma Building.' In fine condition. Encapsulated and graded by PSA/DNA as "MINT 9."
Google, Inc. was officially incorporated on September 7, 1998, by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as a way to bring their 'PageRank' algorithm—an improved method of ranking internet search results, developed in the course of their Stanford doctoral work—to the masses. Having received several million dollars in venture capital investments, the company moved out of its Menlo Park garage and into its first real office space in Palo Alto in March 1999. This check, signed twice by Page just three months later, represents Google's early, rapid growth—the firm occupied the 'Lucky Building' for only a few months before needing to move to a larger space, a victim of its own success.
The 165 University Avenue address holds a special place in startup culture—located near Stanford University on the main commercial street in downtown Palo Alto, California, the building has served as an incubator for several noted Silicon Valley companies, including Logitech, Google, PayPal, WePay, Yummly, and others. YouTube also provides this location as the example address when setting the location of an uploaded video.
Accompanied by a letter of provenance from the consignor, in full: "In August of 1998, Andy Bechtolsheim wrote a check to Google for $100,000 becoming the initial investor in the company. Later in 1998 there was additional investment in the company including $250,000 by Jeff Bezos in November 1998. With this additional funding and with the number of employees growing, the company moved into the first office space at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto in March of 1999.
This check is unique and interesting in that it is written to Larry Page, signed by Larry Page, and endorsed for deposit by Larry Page. It references employee expense reimbursement and it can be assumed that Larry possibly spent money moving and furnishing the new office space. There are no details of the actual expenses but the large amount suggests they are relocation expenses.
I joined the company in April of 2002. I worked in the Finance department as the manager of Disbursements and Payroll. I was the first manager level hired in the Finance department. I came across these checks as we were moving from one location to another, as we did frequently. The checks were to be discarded to make room for other files. The company was growing very fast at the time. I kept them thinking it would be fun to have from a historical perspective."
