In an official Google blog post yesterday, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced plans to restructure Google and other Google companies under a new holding company – Alphabet. The numerous companies currently owned by Google will be largely unaffected, retaining their own brands and independence as they had before. Some will stay under Google’s control, for example Search, YouTube and Android phones, while some projects further afield, such as the enigmatic Google X lab and high-speed internet endeavour Fiber, will move under the Alphabet name. Page promises the changes will make Google more accountable and allow better management of the Google properties.
As part of the reorganisation, Larry Page will leave the position of CEO at Google to become CEO of Alphabet, with partner Sergey Brin taking the role of President of Alphabet. Developer Sundar Pichai, who joined Google in 2004, takes over as CEO of Google, after previously working as Product Chief. Page praised Pichai’s performance in the announcement, writing that he feels ‘very fortunate’ to have someone ‘as talented as he is’ taking over. Pichai has so far stayed quiet regarding the announcement, instead quietly giving his thanks to individuals on his Twitter. Other positions so far remain unchanged.
Larry Page clarified stock in Google Inc. will be unaffected, and directly transferred to be Alphabet Inc. stock with no changes to share amounts or rights. Google Inc. stock price saw an overnight spike of 6% following the announcement, capturing the excitement of the unexpected change.
For the average consumer, these changes to Google will have little impact day to day, beyond a new name to remember, but Page ends his blog with a similar sentiment – ‘don’t worry, we’re still getting used to the name too!’