Today’s world is dominated by personalities. Facebook is already completely synonymous with Mark Zuckerberg. Apple is already completely synonymous with Tim Cook. Unsurprisingly, technology’s biggest leaders are dominating the discussion surrounding their respective companies. However, amidst today’s cults of personalities, one big company is keeping it relatively lowkey: Google.
Even since the company’s inception, Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have traditionally shied away from the limelight, letting the products speak for themselves. In fact, in 2015, the founders stepped down from their leadership roles at Google, surrendering the reins to incumbent CEO Sundar Pichai. Meanwhile, Page and Brin restructured (and headed) the entire corporation under a larger parent company, Alphabet. Still, despite the restructuring, the duo kept to their shadows.
Now, Page and Brin are taking an even larger step back. In a sudden farewell letter issued today, the duo is stepping down from Alphabet’s top seats. Once again, Pichai will take over as CEO of both Alphabet and Google.
“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 letter said. However, the duo will still “remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders.”
On the other side of the board, Pichai is taking a confident approach to the new leadership role. “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,” Pichai said.
Pichai’s promotion comes at an interesting time. For one, Google is currently under negotiations with Huawei to resurrect the latter’s Android-powered products. Who knows where Alphabet and Google will go from here?
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