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Larry Page and Sergey Brin, until now CEO and president of Alphabet - the conglomerate of companies that own Google - announced on Tuesday in a statement that they leave their respective positions. From now on, Google CEO Sundar Pichai will also be from Alphabet instead of Page, and Brin's post will be removed. Wall Street reacted with a slight revaluation of the 0.5% securities in the market after hours.
"With Alphabet already well established and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it is the natural time to simplify the management structure," the founders of the tech giant wrote in a joint statement. "We've never been to hold on to our executive positions and we believe there is a better way to run the company. Alphabet and Google don't need two more CEOs and a president."
The news is a boost and a huge vote of confidence for Pichai, who assumed the leadership of Google in 2015 after the creation of Alphabet. This 47-year-old Indian-born engineer led the company's Android and Chrome operations before Page named him his successor.
Both Page and Brin will continue to have a presence on the company's board of directors as well as part of the control as major shareholders. Page owns 5.8% of the securities and Brin 5.6% versus 0.1% held by Pichai. The latter will be responsible for "leading Google and managing Alphabet's investments in our Other Betting portfolio", referring to business adventures such as Waymo, the autonomous car company, or health and technology projects such as Verily.
Both Page and Brin did a review in their writing on the achievements of the company that they founded in 1998 and that has since become a universal colossus on the internet. There are references to services such as Google Maps, Photos and YouTube, the video channel acquired in 2006 for 1,650 million dollars.
Pichai's mission, in principle, will be to strengthen those other bets after the slight slowdown in its digital advertising business. The results of the first quarter and third quarter reflect this.
Meanwhile, Page and Brin will step aside after almost 20 years leading the process in the third most valuable company in the world by market capitalization. They do it occupying the position 10 and 14, respectively, in the list of the richest people on the planet, according to Forbes. Page, a 47-year-old American, has a fortune of $ 50.8 billion and Brin, a 46-year-old Muscovite, is around 49.8 billion, two huge talents who met while studying at Stanford University.
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