Google CFO Patrick Pichette to retire

Google Inc Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, 51, is retiring and will remain at the operator of the world's biggest search engine through the transition period.

Pichette, who joined in 2008, informed the Web company of his intent to leave on March 4, it said in a statement on Tuesday. Google said it plans to find a new CFO within six months.

Google made some of its biggest acquisitions during Pichette's tenure, including Nest Labs Inc for $3.2 billion and Motorola's wireless business, which it bought for $9.8 billion and later sold off in parts. Google's share price more than doubled during his tenure.

The departure of Pichette, who previously had worked at Bell Canada, was unexpected and leaves some uncertainty about cost controls at Google, said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA Inc.

"People were viewing him quite positively," Schachter said. "He's done a fantastic job. In general, I think he was as open as Google can be."

Pichette wrote in a Web post that he's leaving to travel after "25-30 years of nearly non-stop work." The departing CFO said he's finally making a choice between the trade-offs between work and his personal life and family.

"I'm at a point in my life where I no longer have to make such tough choices anymore," Pichette wrote. "I wish to transition over the coming months but only after we have found a new Googley CFO and help him/her through an orderly transition, which will take some time."

Pichette is stepping down amid other management changes since last year. Alan Eustace, who joined Google in 2002 and holds the title of senior vice president of knowledge, was set to leave the company this month. Andy Rubin, who oversaw the development of Android software for smartphones and had been working on robotics, also left Google last year to form an incubator.

The shares of Mountain View, California-based Google fell as much as 1 percent in extended trading. The stock fell 2.5 percent to $559.85 at the close in New York.