Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin Step Down
Google’s parent company Alphabet is announcing some big news today. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping down as Alphabet leaders, handing off their responsibilities to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin have brought Google a long way since the company was originally founded. Page later became the CEO of Alphabet, with Brin taking the role of President of Alphabet. And now, both Larry Page and Sergey Brin are stepping down, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai will be taking over.
The founders wrote a long letter about the change on the official Google blog. “With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet,” the duo stated.
Sundar Pichai will be responsible for Google, as well as Alphabet’s Other Bets companies. Both Page and Brin will continue to be involved as board members, shareholders and co-founders, so they will still be consulting Pichai as his new role as the CEO of Google and Alphabet.
“Sundar brings humility and a deep passion for technology to our users, partners and our employees every day. 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”, the duo said about Alphabet’s new CEO.
“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 added.
Google has definitely taken an interesting new approach with Sundar Pichai as the CEO in the last few years, and it will be interesting to see where he takes Alphabet next. Google’s original founders stepping down in the company is certainly a big move, but it’s been a long time coming — Larry Page has been practically missing as the former Alphabet CEO in recent months, for example.