谷歌两位创始人卸任，分析师作何评论

今年12月3日，谷歌的联合创始人拉里·佩奇和谢尔盖·布林辞去了在谷歌母公司Alphabet的职位。分析师表示这标志着“一个时代的结束”。

这一意外变动后，谷歌的首席执行官桑达尔·皮查伊被晋升为Alphabet的首席执行官，也不可避免地让Alphabet的未来受到了质疑。这家控股公司成立于四年前，目的是创立更多专项业务单位。

而谷歌作为其搜索主业独立运营。与此同时，其他公司被Alphabet分别纳入了不同的部门，比如自动驾驶汽车公司Waymo、投资机构GV，以及城市规划公司Sidewalk Labs。

咨询公司Moor Insights & Strategy的首席分析师帕特里克·摩尔海德认为，佩奇和布林的离去可能意味着Alphabet的结构将发生变化。

他说：“我想知道的是皮查伊掌权是否会影响到控股公司的布局？我觉得有这个可能。”

众多新闻报道显示，佩奇和曾任Alphabet总裁的布林在过去一年中基本上都没有参与过日常运营。佩奇曾经被称为“全宇宙最有野心的首席执行官”，但近年来他因为声带问题而一直很少出现在公众场合。

两人在一封信中表示，皮查伊同时担任谷歌和Alphabet的首席执行官不会对Alphabet产生任何影响，而且“我们本来就该简化管理结构”。

他们写道：“如果我们认为有更好的方法来经营公司，就绝不会留在管理职位上，而且Alphabet和谷歌再也不需要两位首席执行官和一位总裁。”

韦德布什证券的一名分析师丹尼尔·艾夫斯说：他们离职的时间“将给这家公司的未来策略带来更多疑问。”但艾夫斯也表示选择这个时候也是合理行为。

对于佩奇辞去首席执行官职务，艾夫斯说：“拉里把大门钥匙留给桑达尔是一个时代的结束。Alphabet四年前开始重组，考虑到此事目前仍在进行，拉里和谢尔盖自然会离去。”

投资者对这个消息反应平淡。12月3日下午发布公告后，Alphabet的股价在市后交易中仅上涨了0.5%，报1292.38美元。

Tigress Financial Partners的研究主管伊万·费恩塞斯说皮查伊是接掌Alphabet的良好人选。在他的领导下，这家公司一直都“处于所有长期重大科技趋势的前沿，比如云技术、移动、搜索和广告，还包括对众多新兴技术的投资。”

费恩塞斯指出：“人们一直都认为皮查伊最终会承担越来越多的责任。”

此外，费恩塞斯还提到了Alphabet最近在股市上的表现——该公司股价已经接近新历史高点。

作为过去20年最强大的公司之一，虽然此事让人觉得一个时代好像结束了，但布林和佩奇说他们仍然会关注Alphabet的最新情况，而且两人都会继续留在公司董事会。

他们写道：“我们将长久而且深入地投身于谷歌和Alphabet，并作为董事会成员、股东和创始人继续积极参与其中。此外，我们打算继续定期和桑达尔沟通，特别是在我们热衷的问题上！” （财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stepped aside from their duties at parent company Alphabet on December 3 in a move that analysts say marks “the end of an era.”

The surprise shakeup, which elevates Google CEO Sundar Pichai as Alphabet’s CEO, raises inevitable questions about Alphabet’s future. The holding company was spawned four years ago in an effort to create more focused businesses units.

The main search business, Google, operated within its own bucket. Meanwhile, other companies, such as self-driving car company Waymo, investment arm GV, and urban planning company Sidewalk Labs, were placed in separate units under Alphabet.

Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, said that the departure of the co-founders may signal that change is coming to Alphabet’s structure.

“What I’m wondering is with Pichai taking the helm, does this call into question the holding company arrangement?” he said. “I think it could.”

Page and Brin, who was an Alphabet president, have both been largely absent from the day-to-day operations over the past year, according to various reports. Page, who was once called “the most ambitious CEO in the universe,” has been rarely seen in public in recent years while suffering from a voice problem.

In a letter, Page and Brin said that having Pichai serve as CEO of both Google and Alphabet wouldn’t have any impact on Alphabet, and that it’s “the natural time to simplify our management structure.”

“We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President,” they wrote.

Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said that the timing of their departures “will raise more questions around the company’s future strategy.” But he said that the timing makes sense.

“It’s the end of an era with Larry leaving the keys to the house with Sundar,” he said, of Page relinquishing his CEO title. “It’s a natural time for Larry and Sergey to leave since the current restructuring of Alphabet, which started four years ago.”

Investors had a muted reaction to the news. Shares in Alphabet nudged up only a half percent to $1,292.38 in extended trading, after the announcement published on December 3 afternoon.

Ivan Feinseth, director of research at Tigress Financial Partners, said that Pichai is a good choice to take over Alphabet. Under his leadership, the company has been “on the forefront of every key secular tech trend: cloud, mobile, search, advertising, including investing in a lot of emerging technologies.”

“It’s always been expected that eventually Pichai would take more and more responsibility,” he said.

Additionally, Feinseth pointed to Alphabet’s recent stock performance. Its shares are near an new all-time high.

While it feels like the end of an era for one of the most powerful companies of the past two decades, Brin and Page say they are still committed to keeping up with the latest at Alphabet. Both will remain on Alphabet’s board.

“We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as board members, shareholders and co-founders,” they wrote. “In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about!”