Google has made Sundar Pichai the company's new Chief Executive Office (CEO). 43-year-old Pichai was formerly the corporation's Senior Vice President, and according to the company's current CEO Larry Page, he was one of the main reasons for the corporation's recent surprise announcements.
"A key part of this is Sundar Pichai," explained Mr. Page in an announcement."Sundar has been saying the things I would have said (and sometimes better!) for quite some time now, and I’ve been tremendously enjoying our work together. He has really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our internet businesses. Sergey and I have been super excited about his progress and dedication to the company. And it is clear to us and our board that it is time for Sundar to be CEO of Google."
Born in Tamil Nadu, India, Mr. Pichai gained a Master's degree from Stanford University and achieved an MBA at Wharton School of Business. He joined Google and shot through the ranks, starting in 2004 with work on the Chrome web browser. Chrome's launch in 2008 saw Pichai promoted to Vice President. In 2013 he was in charge of Android.
Mr. Pichai's surprise promotion comes with the equally surprising announcement that Google will restructure under an umbrella company called "
Alphabet". Google shares will convert into Alphabet shares, and Larry Page will become the new company's CEO, with Sergey Brin President, Eric Schmidt Executive Chairman, Ruth Porat, CFO, and David C. Drummond Chief Legal Officer and Secretary. The changes are part of a new strategy that will see a ‘slimmed down’ Google. “Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related,” explained Page on the Google blog.
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