Tony Fadell steps down as CEO of Alphabet Inc's Nest unit

London

TONY Fadell, a well-known Silicon Valley executive who was once expected to play a central role in Alphabet Inc's hardware efforts, has stepped down as chief executive of the search giant's Nest unit, the company said.

Mr Fadell will remain an adviser to Alphabet and Google co-founder Larry Page. He will be replaced at Nest, which makes smart thermostats and smoke detectors, by Marwan Fawaz, who had prior stints at Motorola Mobility and Charter Communications Inc.