PROVO (AP) — Novell Inc. chief executive officer Eric Schmidt has been named chairman of the Internet search-engine company Google.
Schmidt, 45, succeeds Google's founding chairman Sergey Brin, 27, who will remain president of the company.
Novell announced earlier this month that Schmidt would be replaced as CEO by Jack Messman, now president and CEO of Cambridge Technology Partners Inc., which is being bought by Novell for about $217 million in stock. Schmidt will stay on as chairman and chief strategist for the Provo-based company.
The Google position will not affect that plan, which is expected to go through in June, Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said Tuesday.
A Google statement said Schmidt has made a "significant financial investment" in the company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif.
Schmidt was chief technology officer and corporate executive officer at Sun Microsystems Inc. before taking the reins at Novell four years ago.