Google's Finance Director Retires to Focus on his Personal Life

Patrick Pichette, who has Google's finance director for the past 7 years, has officially announced his retirement and his reasons for making this choice. In an open memo, Pichette explains that he will be leaving the company in order to dedicate more time to his family.

This might sounds like one of the most cliched responses people use to leave a company in the business world however, in his final note on the topic of the relationship between one's personal versus one's professional life, one of Google's top people makes us consider his situation.

In his open letter, the 52 year old Pichette discusses his vacation with his wife last year. During their trip to Africa, his wife suggested they continue travelling the world however, he declined and highlighted the importance of his position at Google.

"Then she asked me a startling question:", shares Pichette in his letter, which he shared through the platform Google+. "When will you have time then? Time for us? Time for me?" That question hung in the cool African morning air."

The Google finance guru thought about the fact that - his children were getting older, he had been working non-stop for 30 years, and his wife deserved more quality time and attention, especially with their upcoming 25th wedding anniversary that summer. That is how he realized, he had to retire.

"I am not looking for sympathy. I only want to share my experience with all the other people who struggle daily to achieve a balance between their professional and personal life", he writes.

There is still no information about who will take over Patrick Pichette's position at Google, however, he has promised to stay on and help the company find a suitable replacement.

"The most alternative two-weeks notice from the most alternative financial director. It's worth the read, it will warm your heart", commented Google co-founder Larry Page under the post in Google+. Page himself excluded himself from general business routines at the company in order to focus on planning the future of Google itself.

Read the entire letter here.