Google's Eric Schmidt will turn over his CEO reigns to Larry Page next month and become the search giant's chairman. When he announced plans for the transition in January, Schmidt said it would give him more time to focus on things like government outreach, but does that mean actually joining a government agency?
According to Bloomberg, Schmidt is among the candidates President Obama is considering for Secretary of Commerce.
Obama this week nominated current Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to be the next U.S. ambassador to China. Current ambassador Jon Huntsman resigned in January to explore a possible run for president in 2012 on the GOP ticket; his resignation is effective April 30.
Citing "a person familiar with the process," Bloomberg said there are several other candidates being considered for the Commerce position. Obama is mulling the possibility of Ron Kirk, the current U.S. trade representative, and former Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler for the position as well.
The Obama administration would not comment on the matter.
"The president will consider a range of qualified candidates, but we are at a very early stage in the process and no decisions have been made," Jen Psaki, a White House spokesperson, told Bloomberg.
In January, Schmidt announced that he would step down as the CEO of Google after 10 years at the helm. But he's not walking away from the company. When he finishes his duties next month, Schmidt will assume a more external role as executive chairman.
There has been a lot of speculation about Schmidt's next step. Schmidt is reportedly shopping a book deal to New York publishers as well as trying to land his own show on CNN.