Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and former computer engineer who was the chief executive officer of Google from 2001 to 2011 and the company's executive chairman from 2011 to 2015. He also served as executive chairman of parent company Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2017 and as technical advisor at Alphabet from 2017 to 2020. Since 2025, he has been the CEO of Relativity Space, an aerospace manufacturing company. As of 2026, he is one of the wealthiest people in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of US$64.3 billion.
Schmidt has been a significant figure in technology and artificial intelligence, both as a corporate leader and as an investor. He has funded numerous AI startups and has been involved in shaping U.S. AI policy through his roles on government commissions and advisory boards.
Early Life and Education
Schmidt was born in Falls Church, Virginia, and later moved to Blacksburg, Virginia. He is one of three sons of Eleanor, who had a master's degree in psychology, and Wilson Emerson Schmidt, a professor of international economics at Virginia Tech and Johns Hopkins University, who worked at the U.S. Treasury Department during the Nixon Administration. Schmidt spent part of his childhood in Italy due to his father's work, which he has said changed his outlook.
He graduated from Yorktown High School in Arlington County, Virginia, in 1972, after earning eight varsity letter awards in long-distance running. He attended Princeton University, starting as an architecture major and switching to electrical engineering, earning a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in 1976. From 1976 to 1980, he resided at the International House Berkeley, where he met his future wife, Wendy Boyle. In 1979, at the University of California, Berkeley, Schmidt earned an M.S. in EECS for designing and implementing a network (Berknet) linking the campus computer center with the CS and EECS departments. He earned a PhD in 1982 in EECS, with a dissertation on managing distributed software development.
Early Career and Sun Microsystems
Early in his career, Schmidt held technical positions at Bell Labs, Zilog, and Xerox PARC. At Bell Labs, he and Mike Lesk co-authored Lex, a software program for generating lexical analyzers for the Unix operating system, in 1975.
In 1983, Schmidt joined Sun Microsystems as its first software manager. He rose to become director of software engineering, vice president and general manager of the software products division, and president of Sun Technology Enterprises. During his time at Sun, he was the target of two notable April Fool's Day pranks: his office was rebuilt on a platform in a pond, and a Volkswagen Beetle was reassembled in his office.
Novell and Google
In April 1997, Schmidt became CEO and chairman of Novell. He presided over a period of decline as Novell's IPX protocol was replaced by open TCP/IP products. He departed in 2001 after the acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners.
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin recruited Schmidt to run their company in 2001, with the backing of venture capitalists John Doerr and Michael Moritz. He joined Google's board as chair in March 2001 and became CEO in August 2001. At Google, he shared responsibility for daily operations with Page and Brin. His initial compensation included a salary of $250,000 and a grant of 14,331,703 shares of Class B common stock at $0.30 per share. In 2004, he and the founders agreed to a base salary of $1 (which continued through 2010), with most compensation coming from personal security and private aircraft charters.
In 2007, PC World ranked Schmidt first on its list of the 50 most important people on the Web. In 2011, Forbes ranked him the 136th-richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of $7 billion. On January 20, 2011, Google announced that Schmidt would step down as CEO and become executive chairman, with Page replacing him on April 4, 2011. Google gave him a $100 million equity award when he stepped down.
Post-Google Career and AI Involvement
After leaving Google, Schmidt founded philanthropic venture Schmidt Futures in 2017. He became the first chair of the U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence in 2018, while holding Alphabet stock worth over $5.3 billion in 2019. In October 2021, he founded the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) and has served as its chairman. Schmidt had a major influence on the Biden administration's science policy after 2021, especially shaping policies on artificial intelligence.
Schmidt has been an active investor in AI companies, including Inflection AI, AI21 Labs, and Essential AI. He has also served on various boards, including Carnegie Mellon University, Apple, Princeton University, and the Mayo Clinic. He owns a minority stake in the NFL team Washington Commanders.
Personal Life and Legacy
Schmidt is married to Wendy Boyle, whom he met at International House Berkeley. He has been involved in numerous philanthropic and policy efforts, particularly in science and technology. His career spans from technical contributions like Lex to leading one of the most influential tech companies and shaping national AI strategy.