But these were all there a few years ago at 1/4 the price

It is a bit startling from that point of view. There have been many good entry points over the years, and the quality of the business has been evident throughout, so why buy in 2025-2026?

As a random stake in the ground, a typical price-to-trailing-sales ratio for Alphabet in recent years has been about 6.6x. These new shares are being bought at 10x. (just as capex and real depreciation charges are exploding)
macrotrends.net - Price sales

Great firm, great pick, shame about the entry price. I suppose maybe in the long run it doesn't matter *that* much if the future is as bright and (more importantly) long-lasting as I expect. It would just mean a few years of flatness before a long value growth trajectory. e.g., 3 years of 15%/year revenue growth and no price change would put it at that old typical valuation multiple. or 4.5 years of 10%/year.

Fortunately we already had a lot of shares purchased at a somewhat lower average price, which I believe represents about 2/3 of the soon-to-be total position.

Maybe Mr Abel was just a pinch more keen than Mr Buffett, enough to put it over the line even last year?

One thought: Alphabet could have funded this with borrowing or (unlike the other AI titans) out of cash flow from operations, but didn't. Why not? Because the stock price is towards the rich end of the scale, so funding with equity is cheaper.

Jim