The two most powerful people in tech have just become even more unaccountable. Larry Page and Sergei Brin, the two founders of Google, performed a cunning optical illusion when they announced plans to officially step down from their management roles.
In a letter on Tuesday, Brin and Page said they will step down as president and chief executive of Alphabet respectively, and hand the reins over to long-suffering Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
In one fell swoop, they extricated themselves from the firing line of major competition investigations, internal scandals and tax rows – yet still get to keep their plush 14 per cent stake in Google’s parent company Alphabet, and control the majority of the stockholder voting power through supervoting power. "We've never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there's a better way to run the company," they wrote.
And they have certainly found a better way: now they can have their cake and eat it too. Pichai will be the perfect human shield; someone to take all the flak and have next to no true power to determine the direction of the business. The transition from figurehead to shadowy major shareholders is complete.
And when was the last time anyone saw Page or Brin anyway? The Google co-founders shuffled out the door long before they wrote their largely symbolic handover note. Since the 2015 restructure of the business, Pichai has been the face of Google, trotted out as the shooting target for regulators, while Brin and Page have shied away from the spotlight to the point of being almost completely unreachable.
This has proven problematic for Alphabet’s reputation. An empty chair with Google's name on it took centre stage during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington DC last year, after Page refused to attend. Regulators’ queries about Google’s internal policies went repeatedly unanswered. The Verge aptly compared Page to Watchmen character Dr Manhattan: ask him any question, and he’ll never fail to completely ignore you.
The truth is, Page hasn’t been interested in the machinations of the extremely profitable Google empire – which relies incredibly heavily on advertising revenue, for some time. Since 2014, the silver-haired 46-year-old has had his heart set on the skies. He has invested in flying cars, amassing an empire by backing the likes of secretive companies including Kitty Hawk, Wisk Aero (formerly Cora) and Opener.
Google has been his problem since 1995 and now he’s ready for a new one. What better problem is there than literal battery fires and major safety concerns that could bring an entire industry to its knees before it even takes off?
Brin fares no better. The Croc-wearing, Google Glass posterboy has focused almost exclusively on Google X, the innovation side of the business. He is most interested in Google’s still-not-profitable driverless car business, smart contact lenses and smart glasses.
With Pichai taking on the brunt of the work, you have to wonder what kind of conversations went on between him, Page and Brin behind closed doors. Perhaps, amid cups of green tea, Pichai gently pointed out that neither of them have done much for the last four years and asked to take over.
But this feels far more machiavellian. “Today, in 2019, if the company was a person, it would be a young adult of 21 and it would be time to leave the roost,” the letter from the founders said. “We believe it’s time to assume the role of proud parents – offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!”
Of course if we're using the human analogy, Google would also be a serial stalker accused of unethical deals, sexual misconduct and attempting to crush other people’s businesses.
The fact is, Page and Brin have built an ugly, unstoppable beast. It is impossible to use the internet without Google, yet its reputation for intrusive data gathering, smacking down the competition and badly treating LGBT workers have tarnished its motto: 'Don't be evil'. The free internet dream has come with a heavy cost.
Next year, Google will face a fight for its own survival. Pichai will have to convince lawmakers to not split it up, stop the US trade war from blocking the company's Android operating system from China, and survive an internal revolt over its deals with the US military.
And so, whether he likes it or not, Pichai will have to bring the colossus in line. Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
