Eric Schmidt was one of the first employee’s at Google and then worked his way up to CEO. And when Google made the switch to being under Alphabet, he stayed with the team as the executive chairman of the company. But, Eric Schmidt has announced that he is stepping down as the executive chairman of Alphabet, and is transferring to another role in the company.
Granted the role as not as demanding as executive chairman, but Eric Schmidt will be staying on as a technical advisor. In a published statement 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.”
It appears that this has been coming for a while and granted he has removed himself from everyday tasks to focus on bigger picture items and others that are more in his interests. It is likely that he will stay remain close with Larry and Sundar, as well as be a close advisor with all things Alphabet and all things Google. The Alphabet board will pick a new chairman at there next meeting in January of 2018.
