Google’s parent Alphabet Inc has announced that current Google CEO Sundar Pichai, will now take on the very same role at Alphabet Inc as well. Founders Larry page and Sergey Brin will vacate that position. They will continue to remain on the board with considerable voting rights.
Interestingly the decision has come at a time when Pichai has been surrounded by multiple controversies over Google’s employee practices. While there has been an ongoing controversy on how Google treats its contractual workforce, fresh controversies emerged recently when the company fired a few of its activist employees.
In an official post, Google founders Page and Brin said, “Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets. We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain 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!”
In a separate note on the announcement, new Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said, “want to be clear that this transition won’t affect the Alphabet structure or the work we do day to day. I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we’re doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone. At the same time, I’m excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology” .
In terms of the overall structure, there doesn’t seem to be much change, and Sundar will continue to lead Google the way he was.
