Eric Schmidt is stepping aside as Alphabet’s chairman

NEW YORK — Eric Schmidt is stepping aside as executive chairman of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

Schmidt, who has been with the company for 17 years, will remain on the board and continue to serve as a technical adviser.

“Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology,” Alphabet CEO Larry Page said in a statement on Thursday.

“Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition,” Schmidt said, referring to Page, Alphabet president Sergey Brin, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “In recent years, I’ve been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work.”

“After ten years as CEO and seven as executive chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy,” Schmidt, 62, added in a tweet. “I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet.”

Schmidt was named chairman of Google in March 2001. He served as the company’s CEO from August of that year through April 2011, when he became executive chairman of the board of directors at Google.

When Google restructured in August 2015, forming Alphabet, Schmidt became Alphabet’s executive chairman.

The board is expected to put a non-executive chairman in place.