Google Inc’s new CEO, Sundar Pichai, ahs made his first big move after the Alphabet restructuring. Pichai switched around a few senior executives, including a promotion to three top lieutenants related to the ad and Android divisions. Pichai announced the moves in a company-wide email, says a report from Re/Code.
Mohan- a true veteran
Neil Mohan, who was earlier the VP of display and video advertising, has now been promoted to the SVP. Mohan joined the search giant after it acquired his company DoubleClick. He is a well-known player in the advertising industry, and during his stint at Google, he has become increasingly involved with its video and YouTube business as well.
Mohan is very much in-demand in Silicon Valley. Four years back, Twitter made an attempt to poach Mohan. A Re/code report in June stated that Mohan was considering an exit from Google to join Dropbox. A week later, Mohan turned down the offer. No additional compensation was involved in the decision, according to a source familiar with the company.
For Mohan, the road ahead will not be easy. The company still generates a major part of its revenue from search, but its display and video businesses are massive forces in the industry, despite the rising competition from Facebook, Twitter and other digital rivals. Mohan will continue to report to Sridhar Ramaswamy, SVP of ads and commerce.
Other promotions at Google
Similarly, the VP on the Android team, Hiroshi Lockheimer, is now the SVP for Android, Chrome OS and Chromecast. Lockheimer, a trusted confidant of Pichai’s, has been at Google since 2006. Lockheimer will now handle more business responsibilities for Android, a segment that is seeing profits from handset partners slipping and has been expanding into new markets such as cars and wearables.
A promotion has also been bagged by Phillip Schindler, who is now the SVP of Global Sales and Operations. Another Android VP, Dave Burke, who showed off the latest Nexus smartphones last week, has also been given more engineering leadership duties as part of the recent reshuffling.
As of around 1 pm EDT, Alphabet shares were up 0.54% at $674.88. Year to date, the stock is up over 26% while in the last 12 months, shares are up almost 22%.
