今年12月3日，谷歌的聯合創始人拉里·佩奇和謝爾蓋·布林辭去了在谷歌母公司Alphabet的職位。分析師表示這標志著“一個時代的結束”。

這一意外變動后，谷歌的首席執行官桑達爾·皮查伊被晉升為Alphabet的首席執行官，也不可避免地讓Alphabet的未來受到了質疑。這家控股公司成立于四年前，目的是創立更多專項業務單位。

而谷歌作為其搜索主業獨立運營。與此同時，其他公司被Alphabet分別納入了不同的部門，比如自動駕駛汽車公司Waymo、投資機構GV，以及城市規劃公司Sidewalk Labs。

咨詢公司Moor Insights & Strategy的首席分析師帕特里克·摩爾海德認為，佩奇和布林的離去可能意味著Alphabet的結構將發生變化。

他說：“我想知道的是皮查伊掌權是否會影響到控股公司的布局？我覺得有這個可能。”

眾多新聞報道顯示，佩奇和曾任Alphabet總裁的布林在過去一年中基本上都沒有參與過日常運營。佩奇曾經被稱為“全宇宙最有野心的首席執行官”，但近年來他因為聲帶問題而一直很少出現在公眾場合。

兩人在一封信中表示，皮查伊同時擔任谷歌和Alphabet的首席執行官不會對Alphabet產生任何影響，而且“我們本來就該簡化管理結構”。

他們寫道：“如果我們認為有更好的方法來經營公司，就絕不會留在管理職位上，而且Alphabet和谷歌再也不需要兩位首席執行官和一位總裁。”

韋德布什證券的一名分析師丹尼爾·艾夫斯說：他們離職的時間“將給這家公司的未來策略帶來更多疑問。”但艾夫斯也表示選擇這個時候也是合理行為。

對于佩奇辭去首席執行官職務，艾夫斯說：“拉里把大門鑰匙留給桑達爾是一個時代的結束。Alphabet四年前開始重組，考慮到此事目前仍在進行，拉里和謝爾蓋自然會離去。”

投資者對這個消息反應平淡。12月3日下午發布公告后，Alphabet的股價在市后交易中僅上漲了0.5%，報1292.38美元。

Tigress Financial Partners的研究主管伊萬·費恩塞斯說皮查伊是接掌Alphabet的良好人選。在他的領導下，這家公司一直都“處于所有長期重大科技趨勢的前沿，比如云技術、移動、搜索和廣告，還包括對眾多新興技術的投資。”

費恩塞斯指出：“人們一直都認為皮查伊最終會承擔越來越多的責任。”

此外，費恩塞斯還提到了Alphabet最近在股市上的表現——該公司股價已經接近新歷史高點。

作為過去20年最強大的公司之一，雖然此事讓人覺得一個時代好像結束了，但布林和佩奇說他們仍然會關注Alphabet的最新情況，而且兩人都會繼續留在公司董事會。

他們寫道：“我們將長久而且深入地投身于谷歌和Alphabet，并作為董事會成員、股東和創始人繼續積極參與其中。此外，我們打算繼續定期和桑達爾溝通，特別是在我們熱衷的問題上！” （財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：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!”