Alphabet, the parent company of US tech giant Google, has announced that Eric Schmidt is stepping down as executive chairman of the board of directors in January 2018.
It said in a statement on Thursday that Schmidt will now become a technical adviser to the company while continuing to serve on its board, Xinhua news agency reported.
"After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can't wait to dive into the latest in science, technology and philanthropy," Schmidt said in a tweet.
"I look forward to working with (Google founders) Larry (Page) and Sergey (Brin) on our future here at Alphabet," he tweeted.
"Larry, Sergey, (CEO Google Inc) Sundar (Pichai) and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet's evolution for this transition.
"The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving. In recent years, I've been spending a lot of my time on science and technology issues, and philanthropy, and I plan to expand that work," Schmidt said in the statement.
Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet, praised Schmidt for his long-standing efforts since he joined Google in 2001 for providing the company "with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology".
A CNBC report says that Schmidt, in his new role, is likely to advise the company's urban development arm, Sidewalk Labs, its deep learning efforts, and its healthcare spin-offs, Verily and Calico.
Alphabet said that its board will appoint a new, non-executive chairman at its next meeting, which will happen in January.
Google, which is the world's top search giant, was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin back in September 1998.
In October 2015, Google changed the structure of the company where Alphabet became the parent holding company of Google, which has more than 70,000 employees worldwide.