SAN FRANCISCO — Larry Page has the vision, passion and intelligence that Google Inc. needs in its next leader.
Yet as he becomes chief executive today, the Google co-founder must prove that his aloofness, rebellious streak and affinity for pursuing wacky ideas won’t alienate investors and lead the company astray. He’s taking over amid emerging threats from rapidly growing rivals and more vigilant regulators alike.
Investors used to Google’s consistency in exceeding financial targets worry that new leadership will bring more emphasis on long-term projects that take years to pay off. And many people still aren’t sure he has enough management skills to steer the Internet’s most powerful company.
Page already has learned that smarts alone won’t make him a great leader. Although Page impressed Google’s early investors with his ingenuity, they still insisted that he step down in 2001 as Google’s first CEO.
He turned over the job to Eric Schmidt, a veteran executive who began working in Silicon Valley in the early 1980s while Page was still in grammar school.
Page’s admirers say that at 38, he is more mature and less apt to be chronically late to meetings or tune out of conversations that don’t stimulate his intellect — habits that he fell into during his first stint as CEO.
True to his taciturn form, Page hasn’t said much publicly since Google made its stunning announcement in January that he would replace Schmidt as CEO. Google said Page wasn’t available for an interview.
Page, though, has left little doubt about his top priority: to dissolve the bureaucracy and complacency that accompanied the company’s rapid transformation into a 21st-century empire.
Google is expected to end the year with more than 30,000 employees and $35 billion in annual revenue.
In Page’s mind, the 13-year-old company needs to return to thinking and acting like a feisty startup. Rising Internet stars such as Facebook, Twitter and Groupon, all less than 8 years old, are developing products that could challenge Google and make its dominance of Internet search less lucrative.
Uncertainty about whether Page will be as interested as Schmidt in appeasing Wall Street has contributed to a 5 percent drop in Google’s stock price. The technology-driven Nasdaq index has added 3 percent since the CEO change was announced Jan. 20.
Hoping to smooth the transition to a new CEO, Google is keeping Schmidt, 55, in a prominent role as executive chairman and chief liaison with lawmakers and regulators around the world.
“I am quite convinced that this change will result in faster decisionmaking, better success for the business and ultimately greater value for the shareholders,” Schmidt told The Associated Press after Google announced its shakeup in January.
The facts on Larry Page
AGE: 38
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, master’s degree from Stanford University, on leave from Ph.D. program at Stanford.
PERSONAL: Married to Lucy Southworth.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Taking over as Google Inc.’s CEO today, having left the post in 2001 to become Google’s president of products. Co-founded Google in 1998 with Sergey Brin and served as founding CEO.
NEW ROLE: As CEO, Page will lead product development and technology strategy and run day-to-day operations.
NET WORTH: $20 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
