Sundar Pichai was named new CEO of Google by the company’s founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin. 43 year old Sundar Pichai is a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and later to Stanford University in Material Sciences and Engineering, had “really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our Internet businesses,” Mr. Page said in a blog post, adding that he and Mr. Brin were “super excited about his progress and dedication to the company.”
Mr. Sundar Pichai starts work at Google in 2004, where he was a product management and worked on the Google toolbar. Then he launches the market-beating Chrome browser. In October 2014 his promotion and literally made Mr. Page’s second-in-command.
According to reports “Defusing the situation fell to Sundar Pichai, the tactful, tactical new chief of Google’s Android division. Pichai set up a series of meetings with J.K. Shin, CEO of Samsung Mobile Communications; they held ‘frank conversations’ about the companies’ intertwined fates fragile peace was forged.”
The new mother company will include, besides Google, units such as Calico, X and units dealing with life sciences. Google’s investment Ventures and Capital, arms will also be part of Alphabet.
“We’ve long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes. But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant,” Page said in a blog explaining the rational for the restructuring, adding that the “new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google.” Explaining Pichai’s elevation, Page said he (Pichai) has really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for Google’s Internet businesses. “Sergey (Brin) 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. I feel very fortunate to have someone as talented as he is to run the slightly slimmed down Google and this frees up time for me to continue to scale our aspirations,” he wrote. He said he has been “spending quite a bit of time with Sundar, helping him and the company in any way I can, and I will of course continue to do that.”