The google phenomenon is a classic case of lucky fools in the right place at the right time, just like youtube, facebook, Mark Cuban, yahoo etc. If they had started 5 years earlier or later they'd have burned through their capital and gone broke, as countless other search engines, social networking, and video upload sites did. It's hilarious that people compare them with actually skilled businessmen who have proven ability across multiple economic cycles.
Any night at the casino you can see someone who has won big on roulette. Fawning over them is insane, so why do people do it when someone wins at business roulette?