Sure, he told the United Nations he came to cure smallpox. Sure, Fast Company compared him to Goethe's Faust. And yes, sure, he built The WELL, the Metafilter-meets-ASmallWorld intellectual community that spawned half the blogosphere.

But my favorite reason that Google hired Dr. Larry D. as executive director of its charitable organization? Google.org gets to say, "Dr. Brilliant's in charge."

Google Names Larry Brilliant as Executive Director of Google.org [Google Press Center]
Dr. Brilliant vs. the Devil of Ambition [Fast Company]