Eric Schmidt stepping down as Executive Chairman of Google parent company, Alphabet

Alphabet announced today that Eric Schmidt, the top executive at the company since 2001, is moving out of his role as the Executive Chairman of the Board and will instead remain on the board as a technical advisor.

From the press release:

“Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology,” said Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet. “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.”

“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,” said Eric Schmidt. “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.”

No indication of who will replace Schmidt, but the release notes that the Board will appoint a non-executive chairman.