Hot Topics: Google CEO Reboots

When you've overseen the day-to-day operations at one of the most well-known companies in the world, what do you do for an encore? Eric Schmidt, 55, will have a chance to find out when he steps down as Google's CEO after almost 10 years, during which time the $29.3 billion company morphed from mild-mannered search engine to online super power. Google co-founder Larry Page takes over as CEO in April, while Schmidt retains his role as the company's chairman, focusing on deals, partnerships, customers and government relations.

Ken Auletta, who literally wrote the book on Google, says in a post on The New Yorker's News Desk blog that Schmidt was ready to move on last year after coming out on the losing end of Google's decision to pull out of China. "He is a billionaire, a man comfortable in his own skin," Auletta writes. "He would stay a year as executive chairman, said an advisor, and then do something else."

Work Out Like a Rock Star. The secret to Madonna's longevity is her chameleonlike ability to change with the musical times -- and the fact that the 52-year-old works out like a fiend. Now you can, too, if you're in Mexico City or Moscow. Those are the first two cities where Madonna and her investor partners are launching a chain of Hard Candy Fitness centers, featuring her new favorite workout, barre3, a fitness class combining yoga, Pilates and ballet.

Play Table Tennis Like a Movie Star. Actress Susan Sarandon, 64, has a new sports gig, too. She's started a chain of table tennis clubs called SPiN with outposts in New York, Los Angeles, Milan and Milwaukee, and has plans for more. "I'm helping it come out of the closet," Sarandon tells Parade.

The Terminator Tones it Down. Recently departed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering a return to film -- with a new focus. In an interview with an Austrian film site, Schwarzenegger said he's reading scripts, including a World War II story he'd previously considered. "In the future I have to adapt my roles to my age," he tells Krone.at. "Clint Eastwood also has done it in the same way. Extreme fighting or shooting is not possible anymore. I want to be more encouraged as an actor, and I believe that I can manage this challenge."

The Man With the Golden Ear. He couldn't read a note of music, yet Don Kirshner was a major influence on boomers' musical tastes, for better or worse. Kirshner, who died Jan. 17, was the New York-based promoter who helped establish song writers such as Neil Sedaka and Carole King and introduced the world to Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond and the Monkees. He was 76. From 1972 to 1982 he hosted ABC's Don Kirshner's Rock Concert series, giving acts such as the Allman Brothers, Prince, the Bee Gees, Billy Joel, Phil Collins and Donna Summer their first TV appearances. And who could forget those leisure suits.

Bring Home Your Dry Cleaning Naked. It's not what you think. When it comes to clothes, the only thing people who use the Green Garmento lose is the plastic wrapping that once protected their dry cleaning and then ended up in a landfill, says Tonic.com. The company's reusable nonwoven polypropylene dry cleaning bags have been snapped up by more than 300 dry cleaners in 11 countries and also are for sale online. The bags are the brainchild of Rick Siegel, 53, and Jennie Nigrosh, 44. The Hollywood, Calif., couple came up with the idea three years ago after Siegel got frustrated dealing with plastic bags and twist ties from his dry cleaner. "Single-use plastic at dry cleaners has gotten a pass," Siegel tells The New York Times. "We're not so much selling our bag as publicizing the concept of the bag."

Building Your Nest Egg. Do you have questions about saving for retirement? SecondAct's "In the Money" columnist Karin Price Mueller can help. Send your questions to her at feedback@secondact.com.