Google’s mammoth announcement Monday that it is restructuring as Alphabet clarified some things about Google — it’s serious about its “moonshots,” for one — but raised just as many questions, if not more, about its future.
Alphabet’s structure codifies what Google has been doing informally for some time. It has increasingly consolidated its core money-making businesses — ads, search, Android, YouTube, and others — under the capable hands of former product chief Sundar Pichai, who will continue overseeing those areas as CEO of Google after the restructuring. And it has ached for freedom and autonomy for its more far-flung projects, especially when it comes to units like Calico that have little to do with Google’s original business, or acquisitions like Nest, where CEO Tony Fadell was brought in with promises of independence within Google.
But the creation of Alphabet raises numerous new questions, ranging from whether Alphabet will share the same founding mission that Google had to how its senior ranks will adapt. All we have to work with is the SEC filing and the blog post that announced the change; Google isn’t doing follow-up press interviews.
The answers will eventually seep out, but it will take time. Google won’t start reporting its financials under the new structure until late this year. Until then:
What happens to Google’s management structure? Newly created Alphabet needs executives, and they’re all coming from Google. Larry Page will be its CEO, Sergey Brin will be its president and Eric Schmidt will be its executive chairman. Google’s legal chief David Drummond will leave Google to become Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Alphabet, and Google business chief Omid Kordestani will leave Google to become an Alphabet advisor. (All these moves take place after the merger is finalized.) Some executives, like new chief financial officer Ruth Porat, will handle the same role at both companies.
One replacement has been named — Sundar Pichai, long understood to be next in line for Google CEO, will take over for Page. Google has named three replacements for Kordestani, Re/code reported. Google confirmed it does not plan to name a successor for Drummond or for Schmidt.
Article Source :http://www.forbes.com
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