Difference Between Alphabet A and C Shares: Voting Rights, Dividends, and Investor Choices

Alphabet (GOOGL and GOOG) trade as two closely priced, highly correlated shares on US exchanges due to its Class A and Class C share structure. Class A shares carry one vote each and are available to the public. Class C shares lack voting rights but have the same economic terms (dividends, capital gains) and are primarily used for employee stock compensation. Class B shares, not publicly traded, are held by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, with 10 votes per share to preserve control. The "one stock, different voting" model is common in tech: Meta (META) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A vs BRK.B) use similar architectures. Public investors often seek higher-yielding Class C shares of Alphabet to gain economic exposure without the voting burden, though the ~1% voting premium is typically offset by the company's long-term growth prospects.