Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who has led the company for the past two
years, is joining the board of directors of Alphabet, Google's parent
company said on Monday.
The move represents a vote of confidence in Pichai, who has led Google through a period of sustained growth.
“Sundar has been doing a great job as Google’s CEO, driving
strong growth, partnerships, and tremendous product innovation,"
Alphabet CEO Larry Page said in a statement. "I really enjoy working with him and I’m excited that he is joining the Alphabet board."
Alphabet shares have risen by more than 50% since Pichai, following a
lighting fast ascent through Google's managerial ranks, became CEO of
Google in August of 2015. Google accounts for the vast majority of
Alphabet's revenue and virtually all of its profits. Alphabet is the
second most valuable U.S. company behind Apple.
Pichai is best known for doubling down on Google's commitment to
artificial intelligence, which has led to a long list of improvements
for Google's consumer and enterprise services. (See Forbes June 16, 2016
cover story: Google's Bold Move To Reinvent Every Device On The Planet.)
Pichai becomes the fifth insider to join the Alphabet board, which
now has 13 members. The other insiders are co-founders Page and Sergey
Brin; executive chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt; and Diane Greene,
who heads Google's cloud computing unit and reports to Pichai.
Alphabet is set to report quarterly results after the close of markets on Monday.
Miguel Helft is the San Francisco Bureau Chief for Forbes.
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