Google chief Larry Page adds two IIT alumni to his 'L-Team'

Top-deck shake-up sees head of mapping and commerce stepping aside

 

Google said Jeff Huber, head of mapping and commerce, is stepping down to work on new projects amid management changes aimed at helping Chief Executive Larry Page pursue areas of growth.

Google is splitting the two businesses Huber led, according to a person familiar with the matter. Alan Eustace, senior vice-president in charge of areas including search, will now oversee mapping, while Susan Wojcicki, senior vice-president of advertising, will lead commerce, said the person, who asked not to be namoed because the changes aren’t public.

Page is realigning the senior staff in charge of the businesses Google will need as it seeks to step up growth and lessen its dependence on Web search, which now accounts for most of revenue. “Jeff is an extraordinary executive,” Mountain View, California-based Google said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “He just finished his first decade at Google —having worked on some of our most complicated issues like ads, apps, payments and geo — and now he is eager to work in more of a startup-like environment.”

A spokeswoman for Google, declined to comment on the reorganisation.

Sridhar Ramaswamy, senior vice-president of engineering, is joining the so-called “L-Team,” the group that reports directly to Page, according to another person. Ramaswamy, who had previously reported to Wojcicki, has worked on search advertising and Google Shopping.

The L-Team is now made up of Eustace, Wojcicki and Pichai, along with Vic Gundotra, who oversees social initiatives, and Salar Kamangar, who leads video-sharing service YouTube, the person said.

Rubin’s responsibilities were moved over to Pichai, who leads Chrome and Apps, Google said on March 13. Under Rubin, Android surged ahead of Apple’s software to command 70 per cent of the operating systems on smartphones.