Alphabet Names Board Veteran as New CEO

Alphabet announced on Thursday that it has appointed a new chairman, John L. Hennessy, who has been on the board since 2004 and Lead Independent Director since 2007.

Alphabet replaced long-time Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt with board veteran John Hennessy, a former Stanford University president and one of search engine company's first users, it said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The company’s former chairman Eric Schmidt announced in late December that he was stepping down from his role as chairman. Schmidt will remain as a "technical advisor" to Alphabet.

Hennessy, 65, a computer scientist with expertise in chip design and deep connections in Silicon Valley, joined Google's board in 2004 months before the company went public. He was dean of Stanford's engineering school when students Sergey Brin and Larry Page developed Google and was an early tester of their technology. Hennessy will be non-executive chairman, unlike Schmidt, who was an Alphabet employee.

"It's a privilege!" Hennessy said by email about the new role.

Shirley Tilghman also announced her retirement from the Alphabet's board effective Feb. 15, the company said in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. She did not respond to a request to comment.

Schmidt stepped down in January, ending a 17-year run in which he played a central role in building a promising startup called Google into a global technology powerhouse. He remains a board member and adviser on technical and science issues.

Hennessy's chairmanship begins at a time when lawmakers, privacy critics and other groups fear that Google may have too much control over how people connect with each other in the digital age. It has been blasted for allowing extremist videos to stream on YouTube and misleading news to lead Google search results.

Rivals in Alphabet's biggest business, online advertising, have complained about anti-competitive practices. Questions about collection of user data are omnipresent, especially as Alphabet develops cars, smart speakers and facial recognition software.

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