Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google LLC, said Tuesday that Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will step down as Alphabet CEO and president, respectively.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai will take over as CEO of Alphabet in addition to his current role. Page and Brin are set to continue serving on Alphabet's board of directors, according to a statement from the company.

"Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President," the two co-founders wrote in a joint letter posted on Google's blog. "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."

Google was established by Page and Brin in California in 1998, soon becoming a global IT company specializing in its search engine.

The company has since endeavored to branch out, with its popular products and platforms including the Android operating system and video-sharing platform YouTube LLC it acquired in 2006. Google has recently been working to develop autonomous vehicles.

Alphabet was founded in 2015 as the parent holding company of Google. Pichai became Google's CEO in August that year following Page's move to assume the CEO post of Alphabet.

"If the company was a person, it would be a young adult of 21 and it would be time to leave the roost," Page and Brin wrote in the letter. "We believe it's time to assume the role of proud parents -- offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!"

Pichai wrote in a company-wide email that was released to the public how the management change would not affect Alphabet's corporate structure or day-to-day work.

"I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we're doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone," he said. "At the same time, I'm excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology."

==Kyodo

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