In a shocking announcement today, co-founder Larry Page revealed major changes for Google, including he and Sergey Brinn moving on the helm a new parent company called Alphabet, and Sundar Pachai taking over as the new CEO of a slimmed down Google. Page released the news, among other places, on the front page of Alphabet’s new, cleverly named website, abc.xyz:
We’ve long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes. But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant. Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable.
Alphabet will consist of a number of companies in addition to Google, including Life Sciences (that works on the glucose-sensing contact lens), and Calico (focused on longevity), and X Labs (the moon shots).
Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Our two classes of shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG.”
Each of these businesses will have its own CEO, which will receive guidance from Page and Brin. As to why the new parent company will be called Alphabet:
We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity’s most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for! I should add that we are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products–the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands.
The internet is literally still reeling from the news, and we’ll no doubt be deluged with analysis for the next long while. So, keep it locked to our sibling site Android Central for all the updates.
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