Larry Page and Sergey Brin step down; Pichai to head Google and Alphabet
04 Dec 2019
Alphabet Inc on Tuesday announced the stepping down of Larry Page and Sergey Brin as the CEO and president, respectively, of Alphabet. They will, however, continue their involvement as co-founders, shareholders and members of Alphabet’s board of directors.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, now assumes the role of the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will manage Alphabet’s investment in its portfolio of Other Bets. Pichai will also remain a member of Alphabet’s board of directors.
Page and Brin will take a long retreat from public roles and active management by at the company they co-founded 21 years ago.
The change is effective immediately, Alphabet said in a website release.
Page, Brin and Pichai all share an emphasis on developing artificial intelligence software to make web searching and other tasks faster, while long-time product leader Pichai has increased efforts to make such technology available globally.
Alphabet, however, faces unprecedented scrutiny, with governments on five continents demanding better safeguards, less anticompetitive conduct and more taxes from.
Investors believe a streamlining management could help Alphabet better respond to the challenges and focus on growing profits.
“We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company,” Page and Brin wrote about the transition at blog.google.
The two, however, said they remain deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will be 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 said Sunder shared their confidence in the value of the Alphabet structure, and the ability it provides to tackle big challenges through technology. “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.”
John Hennessy, Chairman of Alphabet’s board of directors, said: “It’s impossible to overstate Larry and Sergey’s contributions over the past 21 years. I’m grateful that they will continue their involvement on the Board.”
“I’m excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with Larry and Sergey in our new roles. Thanks to them, we have a timeless mission, enduring values, and a culture of collaboration and exploration. It’s a strong foundation on which we will continue to build,” Pichai said.