Who was the first CEO of Google?

Larry Page was Google’s first CEO.

Page co-founded Google with Sergey Brin while both were doctoral students at Stanford University. Their search project began as BackRub, an experiment that analyzed links between webpages. The company Google Inc. was incorporated in 1998, with Page serving as its founding chief executive.

As Google’s first CEO, Page helped guide the young company from a Stanford research project into a rapidly growing search business. He and Brin recruited experienced managers as the organization expanded, and Eric Schmidt became CEO in 2001. Page then served as president of products while remaining one of Google’s most influential leaders.

Page returned as Google’s CEO in 2011, replacing Schmidt, and held the job until 2015. That year, Google reorganized under a new parent company called Alphabet. Page became Alphabet’s CEO, while Sundar Pichai took over as Google’s CEO. This later leadership history explains why Schmidt and Pichai are often associated with Google’s top job, but neither was the first.