New Google CEO Has Philly Roots

He was instrumental in creating the Google Chrome web browser, the Android operating system and the Google search toolbar. Now he’s leading arguably the most powerful company in the world.

He’s Sundar Pichai and he’s the new CEO of Google, which announced a major restructuring on Monday. The business created a holding company called Alphabet and Google co-founder Larry Page has stepped down from Google to lead the new venture. Pichai will lead a “slimmed-down” version of Google, which contains its namesake search-engine business.

Pichai has Philly roots. He obtained an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. At Wharton, he earned the distinction of Siebel Scholar and Palmer Scholar, according to Business Insider.

He started working for Google in 2004, and rose to become the company’s senior vice president of products. Pichai has got “a low-key style and an unusually firm handle on diplomacy,” said Reuters. He “aided his ascent by never trying to steal the limelight and advancing his agenda through quiet advocacy,” Reuters continued.

In a blog post announcing the changes, Page offered these glowing remarks about Pichai:

I feel very fortunate to have someone as talented as he is to run the slightly slimmed down Google and this frees up time for me to continue to scale our aspirations. I have been spending quite a bit of time with Sundar, helping him and the company in any way I can, and I will of course continue to do that. Google itself is also making all sorts of new products, and I know Sundar will always be focused on innovation — continuing to stretch boundaries. I know he deeply cares that we can continue to make big strides on our core mission to organize the world’s information.

Meanwhile, the Guardian interviewed tech analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Partners who said Pichai’s appointment may have been a play to keep one of its most talented employees in the fold. It “was a smart move given the current fight for talent in technology,” the Guardian said. “With Twitter and others looking for new bosses the former Android and Chrome boss is top of many head hunters’ lists.”