Google's parent company Alphabet announced on Thursday (Dec 21) that Eric Schmidt would step down as chairman, remaining on the board but shifting into a role as a technical adviser, media reports said.
The executive chairman of Google owner Alphabet is to step down in January, the company has announced. Eric Schmidt, who has been with the tech giant since 2001, will remain on the board as a technical adviser on science and technology issues.
Mr Schmidt has played a key role in the development of Google from a small California start-up to the global business it is today.
Alphabet said it expected to appoint a non-executive chairman.
Google was founded as an internet search company in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Mr Schmidt joined the company as chief executive in 2001, becoming chairman in 2011.
In 2015 Google restructured and the new parent company was called Alphabet with Mr Schmidt becoming chairman.
Alphabet has more than 70,000 employees worldwide, and owns Google Search, Maps, Ads, Gmail, Android, Chrome, and YouTube.
