Eric Schmidt, who made Google’s transformation from Silicon Valley start-up to global titan, is no longer an adviser to the search engine and its parent company Alphabet, marking another milestone in recent personnel shake-ups that I’ve seen the company’s old guard bow out. Schmidt worked as a technical advisor at Google parent company Alphabet in February.
Schmidt tapped as Google’s CEO in 2001, left his role as a technical advisor in February, according to a person close with the situation. His exit ends a 19-year tenure at Google, where he was brought in to be the “adult supervision” to the company’s young founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Schmidt’s departure comes three years after Schmidt said he was stepping down as executive chairman and would no longer serve in an operational role.
A spokesperson for Schmidt declined to comment when reached by Business Insider. Google also declined to comment. The news of Schmidt’s departure comes as he takes on more high-profile roles in government. Schmidt currently sits on two advisory boards for the Pentagon and has invested millions in various defence startups. Last week, he was tapped by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an advisor to the state’s task force to reopen in the wake of COVID-19.