Alphabet’s Porat: If Everything Seems To Be Working For You, You’re Not Reaching High Enough

Ruth Porat acquired the nickname “Ruth Vader” before she even stepped through Google’s front door. The assumption was that the former Morgan Stanley chief financial officer would trim the fat and shut down the tech company’s high-flying, cash-consuming moonshots. But Porat says her views on capital allocation were hatched long before she was tapped to be Google’s CFO, and had everything to do with investing for long-term growth, rather than against it, based on her experience advising the Treasury Department during the Great Recession. Now Porat’s biggest task is how to keep Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s balance sheet growing under the increasingly scrutiny of regulators around the world, now that the company’s products reach more than half the people on the planet.

On the latest edition of Bloomberg Studio 1.0, Porat talked about her journey from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, her approach to Alphabet’s finances and the “frustrating” elements of dealing with regulators. She also shares her advice on finding the right mix of focus and family while building a successful career. And she gives permission to working women everywhere to “drop the mom guilt.” The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.