NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Eric Schmidt will step down from his role as Google's CEO in April and be replaced by co-founder Larry Page.
Schmidt, who joined Google in 2001 to become its chief executive, will stay on as executive chairman after he leaves his CEO role on April 4. According to the company, he will focus on deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership. He will also continue to act as an advisor to co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
"We've been talking about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making for a long time," Schmidt said in a prepared statement. "By clarifying our individual roles we'll create clearer responsibility and accountability at the top of the company."
His Twitter comment on the shuffle was less formal: "Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed!," he wrote.
On a conference call with analysts, Schmidt said he's excited about the change, because the more strategic role will give him "a chance to work on the things I'm most interested in." He expects it to be "a significant improvement in the things that I can do in my time."
The surprise move shocked the tech industry. Schmidt, Page and Brin have long run Google as a trio, an approach they spelled out in an "owner's manual" included in the company's 2004 IPO filing.
"We run Google as a triumvirate," Page and Brin wrote. "The three of us run the company collaboratively with Sergey and me as presidents. The structure is unconventional, but we have worked successfully in this way."
Schmidt said he doesn't anticipate any material change in strategy. "We tend to agree on everything," he noted.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/20/technology/google_earnings/index.htm?hpt=T2