Nest Co-Founder and CEO Tony Fadell Steps Down; Successor Named

Fadell will become an adviser to Alphabet, Google's parent company. He will be succeeded by Marwan Fawaz, a former EVP of Motorola Mobility.
Published: June 3, 2016

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Tony Fadell, the beleaguered founder and CEO of Nest Labs, has stepped down after selling the smart-home device maker to Google for $3.2 billion more than two years ago. Fadell, who spent six years in charge at Nest, will remain as an adviser to Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and its co-founder Larry Page.

Fadell, a Silicon Valley luminary, is credited in the development of Apple’s iPod, along with early iterations of the iPhone. He founded Nest in 2010 and introduced the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detector.

In recent months, Nest employees complained publicly about Fadell’s abrasive management style, while claiming the business had missed sales targets, bungled upgrades and delayed future products.

In a blog post on Friday, Fadell said “this transition has been in progress since late last year.”

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Marwan Fawaz, who previously served with Motorola Mobility and Charter Communications, will replace Fadell.

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