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Sundar Pichai appointed Alphabet CEO as Google co-founders step down

FILE- In this May 8, 2018, file photo, Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai will replace Larry Page as CEO of parent Alphabet Inc, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday, reflecting the increasingly diminished public role of Page and Sergey Brin at the company they co-founded 21 years ago.

“While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it’s time to assume the role of proud parents — offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!” Page and Brin wrote in the blog.

Alphabet, which also owns self-driving car technology company Waymo, health care software firm Verily and several other businesses, emerged in 2015 as part of a corporate restructuring. Page had wanted to focus on those newer businesses while leaving operational decisions at Alphabet’s biggest unit, Google, to Pichai.

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But Page and Brin, once regular sights at public events and at Google headquarters, are now seen much less often.

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Page and Brin will remain directors, but will cede their CEO and president titles, respectively, immediately, Alphabet said.

“With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure,” the co-founders said. “We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term.”

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