Eric Schmidt is stepping down as the executive chairman of Alphabet
Eric Schmidt is stepping down as the executive chairman
of Alphabet
Eric Schmidt is transitioning from Alphabet's executive
chairman to a "technical advisor" role
The company expects the board to appoint a non-executive
chairman at its next meeting in January
By Jillian D'Onfro December
21, 2017 CNBC.com
Eric Schmidt will be stepping down as the executive
chairman of Alphabet's board of directors and transitioning to technical
advisor, the company announced. He will continue to serve on the company's
board.
Schmidt first joined Google as CEO in 2001, back when the
company only had several hundred employees, and become its executive chairman
10 years later. He maintained that role when Google restructured to become
Alphabet in 2015.
"Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the
time is right in Alphabet's evolution for this transition," Schmidt said
in a statement. "The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and
the Other Bets are thriving. In recent years, I've been spending a lot of my
time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand
that work."
Schmidt tweeted "adult supervision no longer
needed," a reference to a comment co-founder Sergey Brin made on the
Charlie Rose show when Google first hired him.
In the past several years, Schmidt has become
increasingly involved in philanthropy through his own family foundation, which
just launched a $25 million science fellowship, as well as Rise of the Rest,
which invests in startups in middle America, and the Alliance for Southern
California Innovation. He also serves as a board member of the Broad Institute,
which focuses on medicine and disease prevention.
In his new role, he'll likely advise the company's urban
development arm, Sidewalk Labs, its deep learning efforts, and its healthcare
spin-offs, Verily and Calico.
Alphabet expects that its board will appoint a new,
non-executive chairman at its next meeting in January, meaning that it will
join the ranks of Apple and Microsoft as major companies with non-executive
chairman.
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