Eric Schmidt will be stepping down from Alphabet’s board of directors to serve as a technical advisor, the company announced today. He will continue to serve as a member of the board.
In a statement, Schmidt said:
Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving. 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.
After joining Google as its CEO back in 2001, Schmidt became the company’s executive chairman 10 years later. He maintained the role when the company restructured to become Alphabet, a blanket corporation containing numerous Google entities, such as YouTube, Waymo, and others.
Alphabet expects the board will appoint a new, non-executive chairman in January.
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As for Schmidt, a CNBC report details that he’s likely to advise the company’s urban development effort, Sidewalk Labs. Recently, Sidewalk Labs inked a deal with the city of Toronto to turn 800 acres of the city into a connected utopia. The stated goal, according to Alphabet, is to “reimagine cities from the internet up.”
Aside from his advisory role at Sidewalk Labs, Schmidt is also expected to play a role in the company’s deep learnings efforts, and two healthcare spin-offs: Verily and Calico.
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