• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

2

Current price of oil as of June 12, 2026

3

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns

1

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

2

Current price of oil as of June 12, 2026

3

Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
Tech Visionaries

Larry Page’s report card one week in

By
Seth Weintraub
Seth Weintraub
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Seth Weintraub
Seth Weintraub
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 11, 2011, 11:03 AM ET

The New/Old Google CEO made some important moves in his first week.



Co-Founder Larry Page took back the helm of Google(GOOG) a week ago and has made some bold moves over the past week. Let’s take a look at what has transpired and what’s likely to come.

Within 24 hours of taking control, Google announced it was seeking to buy up Nortel patents, which would put it on more equal footing in the Wireless space. Google’s Android OS has outgrown the company’s patent portfolio and the other industry titans are now taking aim at Google in the courtroom. Google’s opening offer was $900 million (and by putting that out there, Google gets a reward if it is outbid).

This is a good move. Patent questions are still one of the biggest uncertainties in the Android ecosystem and having a portfolio that matches those who wish to attack will help those who work with Android sleep at night.

Day Two: Product Chief Jonathan Rosenberg was shown the door after almost a decade with the company. His departure is associated with Page’s desire to streamline the company and cut out some management fat. Rosenberg was brought in as one of Eric Schmidt’s first significant hires and is seen as an early management mentor to Google’s current ruling class. His plans to help write a book with former CEO Eric Schmidt on Google management shows that Rosenberg was clearly aligned with the former CEO.

Day Three: Google announced its earnings call which would be the first in Page’s era (Google wasn’t public in his first CEO tenure). Who will join CFO Patrick Pichette? With Schmidt and Rosenberg gone, it will be a good time for Larry Page to make an appearance and set the direction for the company, at least in the eyes of investors.

Day Four: Page ties employee bonuses to Social. Probably the clumsiest move so far, the PR spin from this move has been bad. Long term, the move may not be such a bad idea. Google employees have been departing to Facebook and other social startups for real and perceived riches. Now, to a much smaller extent, they have some monetary motivation to work on social at Google.

At the very least, it puts social on the minds of Google’s brainy 20,000-plus workforce.

Day Five: The Google-ITA deal got pushed through and both sides somehow seem to be trumpeting it as a success. Google must let the Fairsearch.org members have access to ITA software and even more interesting, must invite Government regulators to evaluate Google’s competitiveness on a yearly basis.

This is a big wild card as government intervention and competitiveness claims arise both in the US and the E.U.

Day Six: YouTube announces YouTube Live streaming. This is a big deal for news, events and sports coverage. Ustream and other sites have popularized services like this for awhile but YouTube’s entry into this space will be a big deal for new types of content. Couple that with the $100 million Google is funneling into original content and you could theoretically call YouTube its own network at this point.

And just under the wire this weekend, Shona Brown, was demoted to overseeing the Google.org business. She was last week, number five on Google’s exec list which is a huge blow. Now, CFO Patrick Pichette, will be taking over HR and BizOpps. The fate of Lazlo Bock, Google’s VP of HR is in question – he likely will report to Pichette.

So now Google has a new Org structure, though as of this writing the old one is still on Google’s website. Interestingly, Page has seven direct reports now, the scientific number of things that humans can focus on at once.

The executives promoted to senior vice president include Salar Kamangar, who leads YouTube; Andy Rubin, chief of Android; Sundar Pichai, head of the Chrome Web browser and operating system; and Vic Gundotra, who is in charge of the company’s social-networking initiatives, said a person familiar with the matter.

Three current senior vice presidents—Susan Wojcicki, who leads advertising-product initiatives; Jeff Huber, an engineering executive; and Alan Eustace, who led engineering and research—will become heads of ads, commerce and local, and Web search, respectively, the person said.

So far, I’d say Page is taking care of business though the long term consequences are still unknown. Just today, it was revealed that rival Facebook is going to be teaming up with search rival Baidu in China for a social network. Perhaps Page should get friendly with Tencent, the current leader in Social in China.

That’s for week two.

We’ll find out more about Google’s plans at the earning’s call on Thursday.

About the Author
By Seth Weintraub
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

The real star of the UFC fight at the White House may be the Claw: a behemoth cage constructed for the Octagon
PoliticsUFC
The real star of the UFC fight at the White House may be the Claw: a behemoth cage constructed for the Octagon
By Dan Gelston and The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
2 hours ago
Trump to talk with allies at G7 summit in the coming week about removing mines from the Strait of Hormuz as deal to end Iran war nears
PoliticsIran
Trump to talk with allies at G7 summit in the coming week about removing mines from the Strait of Hormuz as deal to end Iran war nears
By Munir Ahmed, Samy Magdy, Aamer Madhani and The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
2 hours ago
Meet the lone star tick: the primary U.S. source of alpha-gal syndrome, which is a life-threatening meat allergy that’s on the rise
HealthHealth
Meet the lone star tick: the primary U.S. source of alpha-gal syndrome, which is a life-threatening meat allergy that’s on the rise
By Matthew Perrone and The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
3 hours ago
A deal to the end the U.S.-Iran war could be finalized within 24 hours. Tehran wants to charge ships crossing Hormuz ‘for services rendered’
Middle EastIran
A deal to the end the U.S.-Iran war could be finalized within 24 hours. Tehran wants to charge ships crossing Hormuz ‘for services rendered’
By The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
3 hours ago
More and more of Musk’s companies end up under the same roof. Here’s a look at his sprawling empire
C-SuiteElon Musk
More and more of Musk’s companies end up under the same roof. Here’s a look at his sprawling empire
By The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
3 hours ago
Workers start removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, but there’s little on the venue’s schedule after a few upcoming events
PoliticsDonald Trump
Workers start removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center, but there’s little on the venue’s schedule after a few upcoming events
By Steven Sloan and The Associated PressJune 13, 2026
3 hours ago

Most Popular

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
Environment
Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
By Catherina GioinoJune 9, 2026
4 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 12, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 12, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 12, 2026
1 day ago
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
Real Estate
Gen Z fled San Francisco for Texas and Florida. Now they’re turning ‘welcomer cities’ into the next big tech towns
By Sydney LakeJune 13, 2026
8 hours ago
American taxpayers have spent $33 billion on sports stadiums. They got fewer seats—and higher prices
Success
American taxpayers have spent $33 billion on sports stadiums. They got fewer seats—and higher prices
By Catherina GioinoJune 11, 2026
2 days ago
U.S. energy secretary says 7 million barrels of oil exiting Persian Gulf daily, but Chevron CEO rebuts the claim
Energy
U.S. energy secretary says 7 million barrels of oil exiting Persian Gulf daily, but Chevron CEO rebuts the claim
By Jordan BlumJune 12, 2026
22 hours ago
Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access
AI
Anthropic disables Fable and Mythos AI models after U.S. government bars it from giving foreigners access
By Jeremy KahnJune 13, 2026
13 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.