Meet Sundar Pichai: The new CEO of a ‘slimmed down’ Google

TORONTO – On Monday, tech giant Google announced a radically different operating structure under a new holding company dubbed Alphabet Inc.

The move will separate its well-known companies into separate entities; Google – comprised of its search engine, YouTube and Chrome – will be separated from other divisions such as research arm X Lab and investing arms like Google Ventures.

Monday’s announcement has suddenly put a spotlight on Sundar Pichai, the executive who will replace Larry Page as Google’s CEO.

Pichai, who was named overall chief of Google products last fall, was long viewed by many as a potential successor to Page.

“Sundar has been saying the things I would have said (and sometimes better!) for quite some time now, and I’ve been tremendously enjoying our work together,” Page wrote in a blog post announcing the changes.

“It is clear to us and our board that it is time for Sundar to be CEO of Google. I feel very fortunate to have someone as talented as he is to run the slightly slimmed down Google and this frees up time for me to continue to scale our aspirations.”

READ MORE: Google to be part of new holding company called ‘Alphabet’

The 42-year-old, who joined Google in 2004, is generally known as a soft-spoken but highly effective manager.

Pichai, a Stanford University graduate, initially worked on the Google toolbar and then led the launch of the now massively popular Chrome browser in 2008. 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.

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt congratulated Pichai Monday tweeting, “Really excited about the vision and brilliance of Sundar.. he’s going to be a great CEO!”

Indian Prime Miniser Narendra Modi even took to his Twitter account to congratulate him on his new role.

Google reported more than $14 billion in profit on $66 billion in sales last year, most of it from lucrative Internet advertising.

Analysts said the decision to seperate each business could be a nod to Wall Street demands for more fiscal accountability.

As part of the reorganization, Page said the company will begin reporting financial results by segments, which should give a clearer picture of how Google’s core Internet business is performing.

– With files from The Associated Press