Eric Schmidt resigns as chairman of Alphabet

Eric Schmidt is stepping down as chairman of the board of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Schmidt will remain a member of the board and will assume the position of technical advisor at the company. A reason for resigning the position has not been given.

As of January 2018, Schmidt is no longer chairman of the board at Alphabet, the company announced. He will continue to advise Alphabet on technical and scientific topics and will remain a member of the board of directors.

According to Schmidt, he and the other top executives at Alphabet and Google, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai, have simply decided that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for the transition. He also wants to spend more time on science, technology and philanthropy.

A successor to Schmidt has not been announced. Alphabet expects to appoint a non-executive chairman who, unlike Schmidt, will not be given executive powers. Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011. He then became chairman of the board of directors.