Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping down from the leadership role of the parent company Alphabet.
Google CEO Indian-American Sundar Pichai (47), will be assuming the role of Alphabet CEO, making him one of the most powerful corporate leaders of the world.
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An announcement in this regard was made by Page and Brin in a letter to the company employees, which also included a statement from Pichai.
With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and ‘Other Bets’ operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure, wrote the two Google co-founders.
“We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company,” they said.
“And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets,” said Page and Brin.
“We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about!” they wrote.
In his statement, Pichai made it clear that the transition will not affect the Alphabet structure or the work they do.
“I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we’re doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone,” he wrote.
“At the same time, I’m excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology,” he said in his email.
“He’s worked closely with us for 15 years, through the formation of Alphabet, as CEO of Google, and a member of the Alphabet Board of Directors. He shares our confidence in the value of the Alphabet structure, and the ability it provides us to tackle big challenges through technology,” they wrote.
“There is no one that we have relied on more since Alphabet was founded, and no better person to lead Google and Alphabet into the future,” they said.
Pichai has spent 15 years at Google and grown to prominence while leading the development of Google’s Chrome browser. He later led product development and engineering across all of Google’s services for a year before becoming the CEO and adding with it oversight of Google’s advertising and cloud computing business.