Alphabet's Legal Chief to Leave Company

By Sarah E. Needleman 

The chief legal officer of Google parent Alphabet Inc. is leaving the company amid investigations into his relationships with employees of the search-engine giant.

David Drummond, 56 years old, said he would retire at the end of the month from Alphabet after nearly 20 years of service, according to a securities filing Friday. In a memo to employees, Mr. Drummond said it is "the right time for me to make way for the next generation of leaders."

A Google spokeswoman said Mr. Drummond isn't receiving an exit package from the company. Alphabet has said it was investigating Mr. Drummond's alleged misconduct.

Mr. Drummond has been working on Alphabet's investments including venture-capital arm GV and private-equity firm CapitalG, as well as legal matters related to Alphabet's corporate structure, and fulfilling company secretarial duties. He joined Google full-time in 2002, and during his tenure he had a hand in major acquisitions including Motorola Mobility and YouTube.

Alphabet's board hired law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore last year to investigate how executives at the search giant have handled claims of sexual harassment and other misconduct, the New York Times reported in November.

The probe followed a Medium post in August by former Google employee Jennifer Blakely, who said she entered a personal relationships in 2004 with Mr. Drummond and had a child with him in 2007.

"David was well aware that our relationship was in violation of Google's new policy which went from 'discouraging' direct-reporting-line relationships to outright banning them," she wrote. Ms. Blakely also accused Mr. Drummond of having affairs with several other Google staffers, including his personal assistant.

In a statement to BuzzFeed last year Mr. Drummond acknowledged having fathered a child with Ms. Blakely and said he was "far from perfect." But he also said he had a "very different view" of Ms. Blakely's claims.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 10, 2020 16:22 ET (21:22 GMT)

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