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Larry Page’s fortune shot higher this week as Alphabet’s stock surged on renewed enthusiasm for its AI offerings, vaulting the Google cofounder into the very top tier of global wealth. Forbes reported that Page leapfrogged other billionaires after the market bid up Alphabet shares, a reminder that free markets still reward those who build real, world-changing technology.
Love him or loathe him, Page is the living embodiment of American ingenuity — a product of risk-taking, late-night coding, and relentless focus on solving problems at scale. The recent bump in his net worth traces directly to investor excitement around Google’s latest AI advances, including the company’s Gemini rollout that has Wall Street salivating for more productivity gains.
But let’s be honest: the same market that celebrates innovation also concentrates power and influence in ways that make everyday Americans uneasy. When a single stock swing driven by hype around an AI model can move fortunes by billions overnight, we should ask whether we’re cultivating healthy competition or creating unaccountable monopolies. The debate isn’t about hating success — it’s about insisting on transparency, competition, and safeguards so that technology empowers citizens rather than controlling them.
Conservatives should defend the principle that men like Page are rewarded when they produce tools that lift productivity and create wealth, not demonize wealth itself. At the same time, patriotism demands scrutiny: we must ensure cutting-edge AI isn’t weaponized against our values or used to distort markets, elections, or personal freedoms. That means enforcing antitrust laws when firms cross the line, protecting privacy, and preserving a level playing field for entrepreneurs of every background.
Washington’s reflexive impulse to punish success with punitive taxation and ideological vendettas would be a catastrophe for the very innovation ecosystem that produced Google. Instead of trying to tear down our tech champions, policy should focus on lowering barriers, securing critical infrastructure, and encouraging competition so more Americans can participate in the next wave of breakthroughs. Let the market reward winners, but make sure winners play by rules that defend the public interest.
This moment is a test of conservative convictions: celebrate capitalist triumphs, demand accountability for concentrated power, and insist that American innovation serves the people, not an insulated elite. If we get that balance right, we can keep producing the kind of prosperity that made Larry Page’s rise possible while protecting the liberties and livelihoods of hardworking Americans.
