Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has confirmed that Eric Schmidt is stepping down as the company’s Executive Chairman. He will relinquish his role as of the next regular board meeting that’s due next month. He’s going to be transitioning into his new role of “technical advisor.” He will serve the company as a technical advisor while continuing to serve on its board.

Schmidt has a long association with Google. He has been with the company for almost two decades and even served as Google’s CEO from August 2001 to April 2011. He then assumed the office of the executive chairman of Google and continued the role when the company was reorganized into Alphabet back in October 2015.

“Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving,” Schmidt said, adding that he plans to expand is work in the areas of science and technology issues as well as philanthropy.

Alphabet’s official press release didn’t really detail any reason as to why Schmidt is going to step down as the company’s executive chairman. A Wall Street Journal report mentions that this move has been talked about in the company for about a year.

Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt Steps Down As Executive Chairman , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.