Google CEO says 'no' to Obama cabinet position
The latest news reports suggest that Eric Schmidt, Google Inc. chief executive officer won’t take a technology post in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet. In a TV interview conducted on Friday, Schmidt declined such a post.
During the campaign for the presidency, Obama said, “I would create a cabinet post similar to a chief technology officer to advice on tech issues.” Some watchers claimed to have seen Schmidt, a strong supporter of Obama, most likely with the motive to be tapped for that post.
With the aim to seek help in selecting people for a new administration in Washington, Obama picked Julius Genachowski, who has links to Ask.com parent IAC/InterActiveCorp and to New Resource Bank last week. Some were convinced by the choice as technology policy and a favorable attitude toward high-tech business could be a big part of Obama’s focus as president
The cabinet post put up by ZDNet, shows that Schmidt tops a list of 10 likely candidates. At the second position was Genachowski. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Cisco chief John Chambers were other included in the list.