In what might come as a shocker of a news to many out there, Eric Schmidt has stepped down as the CEO of Google. Google co-founder Larry Page will be the new CEO of Google.

During today’s earning release, Google announced that Eric Schmidt would no longer continue as the CEO of Google. This was also posted by Schmidt on the official Google Blog.

But as Google has grown, managing the business has become more complicated. So Larry, Sergey and I have been talking for a long time about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making—and over the holidays we decided now was the right moment to make some changes to the way we are structured.

Schmidt wrote that this decision was taken over the holidays to speed up the decision making process in the company. The company will now have three key roles.

Larry Page will be the new product development and technology strategy lead. He will take charge of the CEO role and manage day-to-day operations from April 4.

Sergey Brin will work on strategic projects and will be more involved in working on new Google products. He will continue to remain Co-founder of Google.

Eric Schmidt will become the executive Chairman of the company and will work on Google’s deals, partnerships and customers. His main focus will be on bringing in more strategic partners and customers, like governments into the Google fold and will also be an advisor for both Larry and Sergey.

So it looks like after a reign of 10 long years, Eric Schmidt will finally hand over the operations back to one of the founders. This decision is surprising because Google has continued to do well throughout his tenure. However, a fresh mind could benefit them even more.

Are you surprised at Eric Schmidt stepping down? Do you think Larry Page will make a good CEO? Do tell me your thoughts through your comments.