View from the Top: Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google By Chrystia Freeland Published: September 5 2008 03:00 | Last updated: September 5 2008 03:00 In 2001, as it started to be apparent that the search engine they had invented as graduate students was becoming a powerful, global company, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided they needed to recruit a more seasoned pro to be CEO. T