Google's Eric Schmidt Passes CEO Reins to Larry Page

Google Inc. co-founder Larry Page will become chief executive officer, taking the reins from Eric Schmidt, who in a decade oversaw the transformation of a barely profitable Web startup with 200 employees into the world’s most- used search engine, generating $29 billion in sales last year.

“Larry is ready,” Schmidt, who will become executive chairman, said today on a conference call. “It’s time for him to have a shot at running this.”

Schmidt, 55, who joined the company in 2001, will focus on deals, partnerships and customers, he wrote in a blog post. Page will take over day-to-day operations as CEO on April 4. Schmidt navigated the company past early questions about whether a successful ad business could be built behind a search engine. He also oversaw the 2004 initial public offering, the biggest for an Internet company at the time.

“We view this as evidence of the founders staying fully engaged in the business -- a positive,” said Mark Mahaney, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in San Francisco.

The company also posted fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as businesses boosted spending for online advertising.