Eric
Schmidt joined Google in 2001 to provide what amounted to adult
supervision for the company’s young founders, Larry Page and Sergey
Brin. He helped take Google public in 2004 and built it into a colossus.
In 2011, after being appointed executive chairman, he became a
prominent emissary for the company to Washington.
Now, Mr. Schmidt is stepping down as executive chairman
of the internet search giant’s parent, Alphabet, the company said on
Thursday. He will relinquish his role at Alphabet’s next board meeting,
in January. Mr. Schmidt, 62, will continue to be a member of the
company’s board and become a technical adviser, Alphabet said, adding
that it expects to appoint another chairman.
No
reason was provided for the change. In a statement, Mr. Schmidt said
that he, Mr. Page, Mr. Brin and Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive,
“believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this
transition.”
The
shift underlines how Mr. Schmidt’s influence at Alphabet has waned over
time and how a new generation of leaders is firmly in charge at the
giant company. Mr. Page and Mr. Brin remain at the top of Alphabet and
retain voting control, but the executives they now have working for them
have evolved. More of them are younger executives who rose through the
ranks, such as Mr. Pichai, or are superstar executives hired from the
outside, including Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer who was
brought in from Morgan Stanley in 2015.
Mr.
Schmidt’s stepping back is expected to have little practical effect on
the day-to-day operations of the behemoth operation. But it is one of
the most significant personnel shifts at the internet giant since Mr.
Page took over as chief executive in 2011, and especially because Mr.
Schmidt has been such a willing public face of the company for so long.
Internally
at Google, the inclusion of Mr. Pichai in Mr. Schmidt’s statement on
Thursday, alongside the names of Mr. Page and Mr. Brin, was seen as a
passing of the torch and the creation of a new power triumvirate.
Mr.
Page, in a statement on Thursday, alluded to the new generation at
Alphabet and Google. “I’m incredibly excited about the progress our
companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that
innovation,” he said.
For
years, Mr. Schmidt served as a buffer for the company, smoothing
relationships with regulators and the broader tech industry, said John
Battelle, author of “The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the
Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture.”
“He
did a lot of that important public facing work on behalf of the
company,” he said. “At a moment when the world needs to have more
conversations with Google about its growing power and influence, my
question is not why is Eric stepping down. It’s who is going to fill the
void.”
Mr.
Page and Mr. Brin have largely avoided public events, with Mr. Page
having a medical ailment that has made public speaking difficult and Mr.
Brin focusing on the company’s more experimental projects. Mr. Pichai
has tended to speak mostly about products and services, instead of
policy.
Through a Google spokesman, Mr. Schmidt declined to comment.
Mr.
Schmidt has been marginalized over time at Alphabet through a
combination of its changing leadership, the shifting political
environment in the United States, and his own personal gaffes, according
to people familiar with the company, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Since
2011, Mr. Schmidt has been a go-between for the company in Washington —
some people internally referred to his role as Google’s secretary of
state. During President Barack Obama’s administration, Mr. Schmidt, who
has supported many Democratic politicians, prominently represented
Google on policy matters. He also gave money and technical assistance to
Hillary Clinton’s campaign team during the 2016 presidential race.
But
since President Trump came to office, Mr. Schmidt’s standing has
changed. He has been eclipsed in Washington by others at Google,
including Susan Molinari, a former Republican Congresswoman from New
York, said some of the people familiar with the company. Google also has
new Washington staff members such as Max Pappas, a longtime political
operative who has a relationship with Charles and David Koch, the
billionaire brothers who support conservative causes. In the meantime,
Google is under fire, along with other tech giants, as legislators seek
to deal with the perceived monopolies these companies have.
In a time of heightened scrutiny on workplace behavior and sexual harassment,
Mr. Schmidt’s personal life has also attracted attention. While he is
married, he has brought a series of girlfriends to corporate events over
the years. Though Mr. Schmidt’s relationships were outside the office,
the fact that they were carried out publicly and that the women attended
professional events with him set the tone for other executives, several
former Google executives said.
Some gaffes by Mr. Schmidt over the years have also received attention.
In
a 2009 interview on CNBC, for instance, Mr. Schmidt said something
about Google users’ concerns about privacy that still haunts the company
today: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe
you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Google has also had to
tamp down reports that Mr. Schmidt sought to remove personal information, including about political donations, from the search engine, which he has denied.
In
August, Mr. Schmidt thrust Google into a negative spotlight when Barry
C. Lynn, a scholar at the New America Foundation, claimed that the
executive had forced him out
for applauding the European Union’s decision to levy a record $2.7
billion fine against the company. Google has denied the claim.
Google
has donated more than $21 million to the New America Foundation and
helped make the foundation one of the most influential policy voices in
progressive politics. After the incident, Mr. Schmidt lost some of the
cachet he had built up in government circles, according to two people
with knowledge of the incident.
Mr.
Schmidt has not kept his head down. He has still been seen at some of
the company’s weekly Friday meetings, which are called TGIF, according
to Google employees.
Meanwhile, there's increasing speculation that Mark Zuckerberg, the self-made billionaire
chairman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Facebook, may one
day run for office. And though it's unclear that he will make a bid for
to be the next U.S. President in 2020, he could certainly afford it.
The clues
According to Politico, some of the signs that he does plan to run are there.
Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have hired Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster, adviser to former President Barack Obama and chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as a consultant for their joint philanthropic project, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The pair also hired David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama's 2008 presidential run; Amy Dudley, former communications adviser for Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; and Ken Mehlman, who directed President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
Zuckerberg is on a yearlong "listening tour," where he is traveling to all 50 states and meeting with leaders and constituents in each — and, to document the trip, he has hired Charles Ommanney, a photographer for both the Bush and Obama presidential campaigns.
Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have hired Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster, adviser to former President Barack Obama and chief strategist of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, as a consultant for their joint philanthropic project, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The pair also hired David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama's 2008 presidential run; Amy Dudley, former communications adviser for Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; and Ken Mehlman, who directed President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
Zuckerberg is on a yearlong "listening tour," where he is traveling to all 50 states and meeting with leaders and constituents in each — and, to document the trip, he has hired Charles Ommanney, a photographer for both the Bush and Obama presidential campaigns.
Guillermo Gutierrez, Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive
officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) 2016 CEO Summit in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, Nov. 19,
2016. APEC aims to create greater prosperity for the people of the
Asia-Pacific by promoting balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative
and secure growth and by accelerating regional economic integration.
The denials
Zuckerberg denies that he has presidential aspirations. He wrote in a May 21 Facebook post,
"Some of you have asked if this challenge means I'm running for public
office. I'm not." He said the same thing to BuzzFeed News in January.
But it sure looks like he might be. And he wouldn't be the first politician to try to mislead the public.
But it sure looks like he might be. And he wouldn't be the first politician to try to mislead the public.
The costs
If he does run, it would cost only about one
percent of his net worth to match the amount spent on Hillary Clinton's
presidential bid of 2016, which some predicted at the time would be the most expensive ever.
Overall, the bill for last year's presidential and congressional elections came to a record $6.5 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The presidential race alone cost $2.4 billion. Of that, Clinton's campaign spent $768 million and Donald Trump's spent $398 million.
Zuckerberg's net worth, made mostly through Facebook, is $71 billion as of Aug. 14, according to Forbes. That makes him one of the richest people in the world.
It's hard to know exactly how much a presidential campaign could cost Zuckerberg. That would depend on how much he would shell out himself and how much he could collect from super PAC contributions and donations from supporters, as well as the price of advertising, travel, housing and staffing. However, the 2016 race could provide a template.
Deadlines vary by state on when a presidential candidate must declare their candidacy, but there are 1,175 days until ballots are cast in 2020, and according to CNBC calculations, Zuckerberg, so far, has made $4.4 million for every day he's been alive.
Overall, the bill for last year's presidential and congressional elections came to a record $6.5 billion, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The presidential race alone cost $2.4 billion. Of that, Clinton's campaign spent $768 million and Donald Trump's spent $398 million.
Zuckerberg's net worth, made mostly through Facebook, is $71 billion as of Aug. 14, according to Forbes. That makes him one of the richest people in the world.
It's hard to know exactly how much a presidential campaign could cost Zuckerberg. That would depend on how much he would shell out himself and how much he could collect from super PAC contributions and donations from supporters, as well as the price of advertising, travel, housing and staffing. However, the 2016 race could provide a template.
Deadlines vary by state on when a presidential candidate must declare their candidacy, but there are 1,175 days until ballots are cast in 2020, and according to CNBC calculations, Zuckerberg, so far, has made $4.4 million for every day he's been alive.
Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg announced in April 2013 the formation of FWD.us
The issues
He hasn't revealed any kind of political platform, but the CEO has spoken in favor of a universal basic income.The idea, whichZuckerberg discussed in Alaska during his listening tour, would guarantee citizens a set income regardless of age, class, job status and other criteria.
Supporters of the idea, like Elon Musk, say a basic income could be especially necessary as automation could replace lower-skilled jobs. Critics, however, say it does not address larger economic issues and, regardless, would be impossible to institute on a grand scale.
Zuckerberg also raised the idea during his May 25 Harvard commencement speech. "We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like [gross domestic product], but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful," Zuckerberg told graduates. "We should explore ideas like universal basic income to give everyone a cushion to try new things."