
It appears from several sources that Eric Schmidt leaving Google comes from a seed planted primarily by his disagreements with Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin over how they decided to pull Google out of China due to the censorship issues. Insiders indicate that Mr. Schmidt had lost some energy and focus after losing the China decision, and that he almost left Google at that time. Supposedly, close associates of Mr. Schmidt convinced him to stay and try a 'reboot'. Obviously he tried; however, over the last year Google has been facing a lot of corporate heat. Facebook took several of Google's best engineers, as their own social-network attempts faltered, Governments around the world criticized Google over privacy, copyright, and size issues, and their “don’t be evil” brand was being held under scrutiny. So now, Eric Schmidt has decided to step down to an advisory executive chairman position temporarily and probably leave Google within a year. He leaves the company a billionaire, so we know he will be just fine. He has done an excellent job and will be missed.
Now, Larry Page takes back the reigns of the company as we reported earlier. He has some tough shoes to fill and some changes to make. He is described by Ken Auletta as,
Those are some habits he will need to adjust; however, let's not forget that he is one of the original founders and inventors of the company, and he did run things before. The Google board originally asked to bring Eric Schmidt in as CEO because they felt that the company needed a more seasoned person running things. Now that some time has passed, perhaps it is simply the right time for Larry Page to run things again. It was always going to happen, and it's good to note that Mr. Page's perspective is shaped by a biography of Nikola Tesla he read when he was twelve. From it he took away the lesson that,...a very private man, who often in meetings looks down at his hand-held Android device, who is not a comfortable public speaker, who hates to have a regimented schedule, who thinks it is an inefficient use of his time to invest too much of it in meetings with journalists or analysts or governments.
it was not enough to be a brilliant scientist if you were not also a good businessman who controlled your inventions.
Ultimately, Google is doing amazingly well regardless of all the 'speed-bumps'. They are a 30$ Billion dollar company, their add revenues are up across the board, they are growing and dominating new markets and challenging old paradigms. They will continue to adapt and evolve... just like their best creation so far... 'Andy'. We wish Mr. Schmidt the best.
Source: The New Yorker via Gizmodo