Google's financial report "hides secrets": a mysterious investment quietly appreciates by 8 billion dollars

Google quietly gained $8 billion in investment income, but the source of this income remains a mystery, as Google's financial report hardly mentions the reason.

At the bottom of Google's financial report released on Thursday, there is a passage of obscure accounting terminology:

"For the three months ended March 31, 2025, OI&E (Other Income and Expenses) was $11.2 billion, which includes $8 billion in unrealized gains from our equity investment in a private company."

This can be understood as: Google invested in a certain company, and the value of that company has significantly increased compared to before, resulting in an additional $8 billion in gains on Google's books.

So which company did Google invest in that led to an $8 billion profit? Analysts believe that Anthropic, Databricks, or Stripe are the most likely "suspects."

Three Most Likely Guesses

This income is quite substantial even for a giant like Google. It helped push the company's quarterly net profit to $35.5 billion, a significant increase from $23.7 billion in the same period last year.

However, surprisingly, Wall Street analysts showed no interest in this large sum. During Google's earnings call, not a single analyst inquired about the source of the $8 billion. No one seemed the least bit interested in knowing which of Google's investments suddenly appreciated so much.

This reaction can be understood to some extent: professionals analyzing Google are more focused on its core business—advertising sales; perhaps analysts also expect that even if they asked, Google would not disclose details.

In fact, when a Business Insider reporter inquired with Google's communications department about the details of this income, no explanation was provided.

So which company did Google invest in that led to an $8 billion profit? According to Business Insider's investigative analysis, the following three are the most likely "suspects":

1. Anthropic: This seems to be the most reasonable guess. Reports indicate that Google owns about 14% of this OpenAI competitor. Like other AI platforms, Anthropic's valuation has recently soared. According to Yahoo's private company tracking service, a funding round at the end of last year valued the company at $41 billion, while in a new funding round in March 2025, its valuation reached $61.5 billion.
2. Databricks: This is a company that is not well-known outside Silicon Valley but is closely watched in the tech world, as the funding trajectory of this analytics platform is also remarkable. By the end of 2024, a $10 billion funding round raised the company's valuation to $62 billion, a significant increase from $43 billion in the fall of 2023.
3. Stripe: This online payment company has long been highly valued and has always been a popular candidate for an IPO. However, Stripe seems to be less interested in going public in the near term Its valuation is not driven by financing rounds, but determined by secondary market sales that allow existing investors and employees to cash out. The value of these transactions is also continuously rising: recent reports indicate that several transactions have valued Stripe at $91.5 billion, up from $50 billion a few years ago