Google founders resist the most lucrative divorce in history

Google, one of the world's largest companies by market capitalization, is in the crosshairs of US authorities after several lawsuits have been filed against it accusing it of monopolistic practices. One possible consequence is that the courts "could require it to separate its businesses," warns business school professor Pablo Foncillas.

The technology company is reluctant to disband of its own volition, but what if it did? It could never be interpreted as an act of weakness, but rather as "a strategic advantage" from a legal and financial perspective, says the management expert. The reason is that keeping everything under the same umbrella diminishes the value of the whole, so it can be deduced that the decision is not only technical but also emotional for its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.