After almost 8 years at Google, Vic Gundotra, the man who in the words of Larry Page “built Google+ from nothing”, today announced that he is leaving the company effective immediately.
It’s not clear where Gundotra is going next but in his announcement he said is “looking forward to the journey yet to come.”
“I have been incredibly fortunate to work with the amazing people of Google (GOOGL). I don’t believe there is a more talented and passionate collection of people anywhere else,” Gundotra wrote in his announcement today. “And I’m overwhelmed when I think about the leadership of Larry Page and what he empowered me to do while at Google. From starting Google I/O, to being responsible for all mobile applications, to creating Google+, none of this would have happened without Larry’s encouragement and support.”
In a separate Google+ post, Google CEO Larry Page noted Gundotra’s past achievements at Google — Gundotra joined Google in 2007 from Microsoft (MSFT) — and praised him for having led Google into the social world with the creation of Google+.
“There are few people with the courage and ability to start something like that and I am very grateful for all your hard work and passion”, Page said, adding that the search giant would continue to invest in Google+. He gave no specifics.
According to Gigaom, Dave Besbris is taking over Google+. Besbris’ job title also is VP of Engineering and he has been on the Google+ team from the beginning as well.
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