Google CEO Larry Page has announced some major changes within the company, and the web conglomerate as you know it might look pretty different.
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In a significant restructuring at Google, India-born Sundar Pichai has been named the new CEO of the technology giant as the company co-founder Larry Page on Tuesday announced the formation of a new umbrella firm Alphabet, of which Google will be a part.
One of tech’s biggest names, Google, is reorganising under a new moniker, Alphabet, in a move underscoring its founders’ ambitions to pursue ventures far beyond the company’s Internet search core, from self-driving cars to cutting-edge medical research. So, instead of calling everything Google, each division will its own separate company that all report to Alphabet. After leading efforts to build Chrome and related products, Pichai was given responsibility in 2013 for Google’s Android mobile operating system – a crucial role as the company was seeing much of its Internet business shift to mobile devices.
“We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity’s most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search!”
All Google shares will be automatically converted into the same number of Alphabet shares, with all of the same rights.
Alphabet will continue to trade under the GOOGL and GOOG ticker symbols when the change kicks in later this year. Alphabet looks like an attempt to answer the critics by revealing more information about the performance of the parts of Google that Wall Street and investors actually care about.
“Investors will probably be happy because the new structure gives management more flexibility to manage the assets”, said Kay, noting that the revamp will also help Google become a leaner business. Each of these businesses will have its own CEO and business strategy. “The largest of which, of course, is Google”, Page wrote on the official company blog.
There’s some good news and some bad news here for Google.
The company’s chief business officer, OmidKordistani, will step down and become “an advisor to Alphabet and Google” according to the company’s SEC filing.
Google’s new forays, however, have also put pressure on the company to demonstrate that its advanced projects are paying off. Alphabet, in turn, may give Google some cover on how it reports the results of its newly formed divisions.
The move appeared to be an attempt to let the company focus on its more creative and ambitious projects.
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Page will be the CEO of Alphabet, while Brin will be the president.
