Episode 2818 - September 17 - Tiếng Anh - Phần 2 của 2 - Larry Page - Vina Technology at AI time - Lê Quang Văn | Podcast - Nhac.vn

The secrets of Larry Page's money man

Part 2 of 2.

Hugh Langley. Business Insider. Sep 16, 2024.

Koop's headquarters sits just off coastal Highway 101 in Palo Alto, tucked discreetly between a Starbucks and a Shell gas station. From the family office's nerve center, Osborne oversees a complex maze of LLCs, financial advisors, and interpersonal dynamics. Like Osborne, Koop's staff is fiercely committed to Page's privacy. "It's a relatively small group," says Ken Goldman, who ran the family office for the former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and occasionally met with Osborne to discuss a fleet of private jets the two billionaires shared. "They're very detail-oriented. They watch their money carefully."

In keeping with their mission, most of Koop's staffers are vague about their work histories on their résumés and LinkedIn pages. Before joining the family office, they're required to sign nondisclosure agreements, and background checks can be repeated annually. One person Osborne has leaned on for protecting Koop's security, according to two people familiar with the process, is Michael Floyd, a former CIA officer and an author of "Spy the Lie," a training manual for spotting deception. Floyd, says someone who knows him, is Osborne's "human lie detector," using his expertise in espionage to identify anything that could threaten the privacy and sanctity of PageWorld. Sometimes, as Osborne explained on the Minerva podcast, "your weakest link is from within."

Befitting its billionaire tech-founder boss, Koop has an impressive fleet of engineers working on the Page family's enterprises, assets, and philanthropic interests. Under Osborne's supervision, Koop collaborated with Composite Energy Technologies to build an electro-foiling catamaran, a 37-foot vessel designed to glide over the water at impressive speeds with little human control and, in time, zero emissions. (A person familiar with the project says the catamaran belongs to Page.) Koop also formed an LLC for Oceankind, the marine-conservation charity run by Page's wife, Lucy Southworth, making it difficult to track the millions of dollars flowing through it.

Within the insular world of family offices, Koop has a reputation as a well-run enterprise that's not allergic to a little fun. According to one person who attended a particularly memorable Mardi Gras-themed party for Koop employees and trusted industry friends held at Nola, a Creole restaurant in Palo Alto, a live alligator hung out on the bar. (A representative for Osborne denied this happened.) Osborne himself is seen as charismatic, friendly, and a sharp dresser. "Always good shoes, good jeans, good jackets," someone who has worked with him says. "He takes care of himself really well, too."

Osborne can also be oddly finicky, those who know him say, insisting on things being just the way he wants them. One person who dined out with Osborne recalls watching him recoil when his dish arrived. Apparently displeased with the chef's architectural plating concept, he sent the dish back and ordered that the food be laid out flat on his plate.

Page did not respond to a request for comment for this story, and Osborne issued a short statement. "It is clear that Business Insider's goal is to create a sensationalized, misleading article that falls short of responsible journalism," it reads. "Anyone familiar with the individuals mentioned in your article will recognize how inaccurate your story is."

As befitting his role at Koop, Osborne's public profile is limited — one of the few public photos of him is the headshot on Way2B1's website. But he reveals bits of himself on his personal Tumblr. One tab contains a humorous "presidential platform in progress," with ideas ranging from the sweet ("The elderly will be interviewed, their thoughts and wisdom recorded for posterity") to the silly ("Every citizen will receive a free margarita (frozen or on the rocks) after more than 8 hours of work") to the impossible ("All days will have 12 hours of