Time Warner taps senior Google executive to head AOL

A year after former senior sales executive Sheryl Sandberg left Google to join Facebook as CEO, Time Warner's AOL has snagged Google's Tim Armstrong as chairman and CEO. That makes it another senior Google executive leaving the search leader to take up a senior management position in another company.

Google Senior Vice President Tim Armstrong will take over as chairman and CEO, replacing Randy Falco, said Time Warner, AOL's parent company. Ron Grant, AOL's president and chief operating officer, will leave with Falco after a transitional period of a few weeks.

The hire was a welcome surprise to Wall Street analysts, who see Armstrong as a respected executive who had overseen Google's American operations. He is best known for his work in developing Google's online advertising business and was widely touted last year as a CEO candidate for Yahoo Inc before the company tapped Autodesk's Carol Bartz. (See: Yahoo has new CEO, Carol Bartz)

"Tim is the right executive to move AOL into the next phase of its evolution. He'll also be helpful in helping Time Warner determine the optimal structure for AOL," Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes said in a statement. "At Google, Armstrong helped build one of the most successful media teams in the history of the Internet - helping to make Google the most popular online search advertising platform in the world for direct and brand marketers."

"Since arriving at Google eight and a half years ago, Tim Armstrong has been a critical force in Google's advertiser-facing operations," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement.

"We're very sad to see him go, but would like to take this opportunity to wish Tim every success and good fortune in this new role at AOL - one of Google's longest-standing partners. He's one of the most creative, fun and respected leaders in the ad industry, and we have all loved working with him at Google. We'll announce an internal candidate as Tim's successor in the coming weeks and are delighted Tim will remain with Google for the next month to help oversee this transition."