Schmidt, tapped as Google's CEO in 2001, left his role as a technical advisor in February, according to a person familiar with the situation. His exit ends a 19-year tenure at Google, where he was brought in to be the "adult supervision" to the company's young founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Schmidt's departure comes three years after Schmidt said he was stepping down as executive chairman and would no longer serve in an operational role.