Google shocked the tech world and Wall Street Thursday by announcing that co-founder Larry Page is replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO, effective April 4. Page was Google's first chief executive but he and fellow cofounder Sergey Brin prompted jokes about 20-something entrepreneurs needing "parental supervision" and, in 2001, the young pair brought in the more seasoned (and older) Schmidt to help run the company. Now, a decade later, "day-to-day adult supervision [is] no longer needed!" joked Schmidt, who will stay on as executive chairman, on Twitter. Is Page ready to retake the helm? (Watch an AP report about the Google shakeup)
It's past time to give Page back the reins: Google "blossomed" under Schmidt's guidance, but "Page is clearly ready and eager to run the show again," says The Economist. If anything, this move should have happened sooner. The "unconventional" leadership "triumvirate" of Schmidt, Page, and Brin worked fine for a while, but Google now needs one guy in charge who can make "swift decisions on product matters," and Page fits the bill.
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