New CEO for Google

MOUNTAIN VIEW: Google co-founder Larry Page is set to become CEO of the company on April 4, succeeding Eric Schmidt, who has announced he is transitioning to the role of executive chairman.

Page will handle the day-to-day operations as CEO, while fellow co-founder Sergey Brin will work on strategic projects, in particular working on new products. As executive chairman, Schmidt fill focus externally on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership. He will continue to act as an advisor to Page and Brin.

"We’ve been talking about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making for a long time," Schmidt said. "By clarifying our individual roles we’ll create clearer responsibility and accountability at the top of the company. In my clear opinion, Larry is ready to lead and I’m excited about working with both him and Sergey for a long time to come."

Schmidt added in a blog post yesterday, "We are confident that this focus will serve Google and our users well in the future. Larry, Sergey and I have worked exceptionally closely together for over a decade—and we anticipate working together for a long time to come. As friends, co-workers and computer scientists we have a lot in common, most important of all a profound belief in the potential for technology to make the world a better place. We love Google—our people, our products and most of all the opportunity we have to improve the lives of millions of people around the world."