Investors who bought Alphabet Class A or Class C stock between April 23, 2018 and April 30, 2019 and filed claims in the $350 million Google+ securities settlement were sent $271.1 million in checks on July 31, 2025. Claims closed in 2024; the court is still overseeing a planned residual payment to claimants who cashed their first checks and what happens to the money left over.
Where the Alphabet Settlement Money Stands
Claims are closed. The deadline to file was July 25, 2024, and Judge Trina L. Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted final approval of the $350 million settlement in In re Alphabet, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 3:18-cv-06245-TLT, on September 30, 2024.The first distribution went out on July 31, 2025: 110,852 checks totaling $271,111,078.07, according to lead counsel’s October 15, 2025 status report. As of October 14, 2025, $22,843,470.19 remained in the distribution account, a figure that counted uncashed checks, returned funds and reserves for further administration and tax expenses. Lead counsel told the court a second, residual payment to qualifying claimants was planned for early 2026. The status reports filed in February and July 2026 are not publicly available, so whether that residual round has gone out could not be confirmed as of October 23, 2026.
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How the First Distribution Went
Of the $350 million fund, the court awarded lead counsel $66.5 million in attorneys’ fees (19% of the fund) and $1,540,059.57 in litigation costs, leaving roughly $289.3 million for class members after those deductions, according to the final approval order. Notice and administration costs also came out of the fund.Gilardi & Co. LLC, the settlement administrator, mailed the first round of checks on July 31, 2025 to authorized claimants whose calculated recovery was at least $10. Lead counsel’s October 2025 report gives these figures:
- 110,852 checks sent, totaling $271,111,078.07
- 105,958 checks cashed, totaling $267,740,912.41, leaving 4,894 checks worth about $3.37 million outstanding at that point
- $18,429,723.04 held back from the July mailing “for a number of reasons” and later distributed, according to a footnote in the report
- Checks stale-dated on September 29, 2025
The same report said Gilardi had been paid $4,082,655.26 for notice and administration through the initial distribution, including $958,577.21 for notice and other third-party expenses, and that lead counsel’s expert costs totaled $1,335,158.93, the amount the court approved as part of the litigation costs.
Is There a Second Payment?
One is planned, but its timing is not confirmed in the public record. The settlement terms, adopted in the final approval order, say any balance left after a reasonable time following the first distribution is to be reallocated among authorized claimants who cashed their first checks and who would receive at least $10, if doing so is economical.In its October 15, 2025 report, lead counsel said that balance would shrink as Gilardi reissued uncashed checks but would not reach zero, and that a pro rata residual distribution would be economically feasible. It said Gilardi would carry it out in early 2026. At a November 4, 2025 status conference, the judge noted that she anticipated another round of distribution in March 2026.
Claimants who never cashed their first check, and anyone whose added share would come to less than $10, are excluded from a residual round under those terms. Investors who did not file a claim by July 25, 2024 are not part of either distribution.
What the Judge Is Still Reviewing
Judge Thompson has kept close watch on the distribution through monthly and then periodic status reports, and her orders show what she has asked to see:- May 2025: a chart breaking down how many claims were received, accepted, rejected and deficient.
- August 2025: a more detailed breakdown of administration and expert costs, the amount of residual money expected after distribution, any cy pres amount, and information about the three people who had objected to the fee request.
- February 26, 2026: a detailed breakdown of money remaining in the distribution account once distribution is complete, separated into uncashed checks, returned funds, interest earned, and reserves for further administration and tax expenses, plus copies of the notices class members received, both due July 9, 2026.
Lead counsel filed an updated status report and post-distribution accounting form on July 9, 2026, along with a declaration about the notices provided to claimants. Those filings are not available on CourtListener’s public RECAP archive, so their contents are not described here. At a July 23, 2026 status conference, counsel addressed questions the court had issued that day, and the minute entry says written responses are to be filed.
Where Leftover Money Goes
Under the final approval order, reallocations to qualifying claimants are to be repeated until the balance in the net settlement fund is de minimis. What remains after that is to be donated to the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit investor education organization the court approved as the remainder recipient.What the Case Was About
The lawsuit was filed in October 2018 and consolidated as In re Alphabet, Inc. Securities Litigation in January 2019, when the court appointed the State of Rhode Island, Office of the Rhode Island Treasurer, on behalf of the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, as lead plaintiff. The consolidated complaint alleged that Alphabet misled investors by failing to disclose a security problem in its Google+ social network that exposed users’ profile data, and it pointed to October 8, 2018 and April 29, 2019 as dates when the alleged truth reached the market.The defendants were Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Larry Page, Sundar Pichai, Keith Enright and Kent Walker. They denied all wrongdoing, and the settlement was reached without any admission of liability. The district court dismissed the case in 2020; the Ninth Circuit revived it in 2021, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the defendants’ appeal in 2022. The parties settled before the court ruled on class certification, with the help of mediator Layn R. Phillips, a retired federal judge.
The settlement class covers all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired Alphabet Class A and/or Class C stock from April 23, 2018 through April 30, 2019, inclusive, with the usual exclusions for defendants, their families and affiliates. The settlement notice estimated an average recovery of about $6.41 per damaged Class A share and $5.90 per damaged Class C share before fees and expenses; those figures refer to shares as they were held before Alphabet’s 20-for-1 stock split in July 2022. According to the final approval order, 58 class members timely opted out and about 948,000 claims had been asserted.
What Happens Next
The next status conference is set for November 12, 2026, by videoconference, with a joint status report and proposed order due November 5, 2026. Another status conference is set for February 4, 2027, with a joint status report due January 28, 2027. Final judgment was entered on October 8, 2024, but the final approval order kept the court’s jurisdiction over administration and distribution of the settlement, which is why the reporting continues.Other open stock settlements with claim deadlines still ahead are listed on the securities class actions page. A separate, unrelated proposed class action filed in 2026 over Alphabet’s Gemini 3.5 Pro launch is covered in the Alphabet Gemini securities lawsuit article; it involves a different class period and has nothing to claim.
Questions
Did the Alphabet $350 million Google+ securities settlement pay out?
Yes. According to lead counsel’s October 15, 2025 status report, the administrator, Gilardi & Co. LLC, mailed 110,852 checks totaling $271,111,078.07 on July 31, 2025 to authorized claimants whose recovery was at least $10. By that report, 105,958 of those checks, worth $267,740,912.41, had been cashed. The report adds that $18,429,723.04 held back from the July mailing was later distributed as well.
Can new claims still be filed in the Alphabet securities settlement?
No. The claim deadline was July 25, 2024, and the court granted final approval on September 30, 2024. The money still in the settlement account is reserved for people whose claims were already accepted, so investors who did not file have nothing to submit now.
Who is eligible for a second Alphabet settlement payment?
Under the final approval order, any residual distribution goes only to authorized claimants who cashed the check sent to them in the first distribution and who would receive at least $10 more. Lead counsel told the court in October 2025 that a residual round was economically feasible and planned for early 2026, and the judge said in November 2025 that she anticipated another round in March 2026. The public docket does not show whether that round has been mailed.
What happens to money left over in the Alphabet settlement?
The final approval order requires lead counsel to keep reallocating the remaining balance to qualifying claimants until it is de minimis, and then to donate what is left to the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit investor education organization the court approved as the remainder recipient.
Why is the judge still reviewing the Alphabet settlement?
Judge Trina L. Thompson has required ongoing status reports and post-distribution accountings. She asked for a breakdown of claims received, accepted and rejected; for detailed administration and expert costs; and, in February 2026, for an account of money still in the distribution account, split into uncashed checks, returned funds, interest and reserves, plus copies of the notices sent to claimants. Status conferences are set for November 12, 2026 and February 4, 2027.
What if an Alphabet settlement check was lost or never cashed?
The first-round checks became stale-dated on September 29, 2025. In its October 2025 report, lead counsel said Gilardi was reissuing previously uncashed checks when class members asked and was working with class members to deliver their funds. The official settlement website, AlphabetSecuritiesSettlement.com, lists how to reach the administrator.
Sources
• U.S. District Court, N.D. Cal. — Order Granting Final Approval of Settlement and Attorney Fees, ECF 245 (September 30, 2024)• Lead Plaintiff — Updated Status Report, ECF 259 (October 15, 2025)
• CourtListener — In re Alphabet, Inc. Securities Litigation docket, including the court’s minute entries and orders of May 6, 2025, August 12, 2025, November 4, 2025, February 26, 2026 and July 23, 2026 (accessed October 23, 2026)
• Alphabet Securities Settlement — official settlement website and settlement notice
