Google Co-Founders Larry Page And Sergey Brin Are Stepping Down

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google and have held senior roles at the company since its inception in 1998, are both stepping down from their respective positions as CEO and president of Google's parent company Alphabet, they announced in a letter Monday.

Sundar Pichai, currently one of Google's two CEOs, will take over as the CEO of Alphabet and Google, the letter said. Page and Brin, who own large shares in Alphabet, will stay on the company's board.

"While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it’s time to assume the role of proud parents," Page and Brin said in the letter. "We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company."

Page and Brin founded the company in 1998 as a search engine while they were both students at Stanford University. For a time, the company was based in a Menlo Park garage.

The company was restructured in 2015, with Google placed under a parent company called Alphabet, which also controls subsidiaries like Google Fiber and the self-driving tech company Waymo.

"We are deeply humbled to have seen a small research project develop into a source of knowledge and empowerment for billions—a bet we made as two Stanford students that led to a multitude of other technology bets," Page and Brin said Monday.