Alphabet Inc. today announced that Eric Schmidt, the current executive chairman as of the next regular board meeting in January 2018 will be stepping down and will continue to serve the board of directors as technical advisor.
Eric Schmidt will end his 17 long years of his service which helped Google transforming into a global technology powerhouse. Schmidt was recruited into by co-founders Page and Sergey Brin themselves who served as chief executives from 2001 to 2011. Post the executive chairman role, Schmidt has to travel world negotiating with governments on various matters and promote the achievements of the company.
While the company stayed focused on products and technology development, Schmidt focused on how to scale every product to a global level. Among the many accomplishments, Eric played a key role in critical product initiatives like the Android OS, and Google Alphabet transition back in 2015.
In his last leaving note as executive chairman, Eric Schmidt said:
Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. 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.
Commenting on the same Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet said:
Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology. Continuing his 17 years of service to the company, he’ll now be helping us as a technical advisor on science and technology issues. I’m incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation.