Eric Schmidt, KBE, Executive Chairman and CEO of Relativity Space, is best known for his pivotal role in the growth of Google and is now among the most prominent voices on technology, AI, business, and philanthropy.  As Chairman and CEO, he oversaw Google’s transformation from a small startup to one of the world’s most influential companies from 2001 to 2011. Under his leadership, alongside Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the company dramatically scaled its infrastructure and diversified its products, while maintaining a strong culture of innovation. From 2018-2020, Eric served as the Technical Advisor to Alphabet, the holding company of Google, advising its leaders on technology, business, and policy issues. He was also the Executive Chairman of Alphabet from 2015-2018 and remained as the Chairman of Google until 2015.

Prior to joining Google, Eric was Chairman and CEO of Novell, a software as a service company. He previously spent 14 years at Sun Microsystems, Inc., starting his career as a manager and rising to become their Chief Technology Officer. He also held technical positions at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Bell Laboratories, and Zilog.

Eric has been honored with numerous accolades and supports a variety of esteemed organizations. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as a fellow in 2007. He was on the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Mellon University from 2004 to 2006, and at Princeton University from 2007 to 2010. Additionally, since 2008, he has served as a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and after a 12-year tenure was named an emeritus board member in 2020. Eric was also a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science from 2009 to 2017. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Broad Institute and is on the board of The Mayo Clinic, as well as Director of Science for America. Since 2022, Eric has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Sandbox AQ. In 2023, he was an Institute of Global Politics Carnegie Distinguished Fellow within Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Notably, in 2024 Eric was awarded an honorary Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by His Majesty King Charles III for services to Philanthropy. 

Eric became the Chairman of the Department of Defense’s Innovation Board in 2016 and held the position for four years, during which he was awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in January 2017 by Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. He was also a member of NASA’s National Space Council User Advisory Group for two years which was chaired by the Vice President. He served as the Chairman of the US National Security Commission for Artificial Intelligence for three years. In 2021, he launched, and currently Chairs, the Special Competitive Studies Project, an initiative that makes recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term global competitiveness for a future where artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies reshape our national security, economy, and society. Eric is also a commissioner on the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), which was tasked to review how advancements in emerging biotechnology and related technologies will shape current and future activities of the Department of Defense. He’s been a supportive contributor to MIT across various programs, and is a member of the CEO Advisory Board and the Schwarzman College of Computing Advisory Council.

An accomplished author, Eric has written four bestselling books. He wrote the first with Jared Cohen, earning a spot on the The New York Times bestseller list with The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our Lives in 2013. In 2014, Eric published his second New York Times bestseller, How Google Works, which he and Jonathan Rosenberg co-authored with Alan Eagle. In 2019, Eric published his third New York Times bestseller, Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell, co-authored with Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle. In 2021, Eric wrote the Wall Street Journal-best seller, The Age of AI: And Our Human Future, with Dr. Henry Kissinger and Professor Daniel Huttenlocher. His most recent New York Times bestselling book, titled Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit (2024), co-written with the late Dr. Henry Kissinger, and Craig Mundie, offers an accessible guide to how AI will shape civilization in the modern era. 

Inspired to continue their legacy of giving back, Eric and his wife Wendy have founded several philanthropic organizations, including the Schmidt Family Foundation, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and Schmidt Futures. Most recently in 2024, they founded Schmidt Sciences, a nonprofit organization working to advance science and technology that deepens human understanding of the natural world and develops solutions to global issues.

Eric holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.