Eric Schmidt reportedly will be stepping down as the executive chairman of Alphabet's board of directors and transitioning to technical adviser, the company announced.
He will continue to serve on the company's board, CNBC reported.
The move ends a 17-year run that saw the company grow from a web search engine into an internet giant dominating online advertising and video streaming, Bloomberg News reports.
Schmidt, 62, will become a technical adviser to Alphabet while continuing to serve as a director, the company said Thursday in a statement.
“The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving,” Schmidt said a company news release.
Schmidt notes that, “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.”
Alphabet expects the board to appoint a non-executive chairman.
“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.”
Schmidt served as Google’s chief executive officer for 10 years until 2011, when he handed the reins to co-founder Page.
He was initially brought in as chairman to add more seasoned leadership to the fast-growing startup, as the "adult supervision" for the 20-somethings then running Google.
The company, now the second-largest in the world by market value, has since re-organized into the broader Alphabet holding company, and Schmidt has spent more time representing Google externally and working on his philanthropy. He owns about 1.3 percent of the Mountain View, California-based company, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
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