Google’s Indian-born social media driver Vic Gundotra resigns

Google’s Indian-born executive Vic Gundotra announced on Wednesday that he was moving on after eight years at the search giant, but did not say where. Gundotra, head of social networking services, created social network Google+.

Google's Indian-born executive Vic Gundotra announced on Wednesday that he was moving on after eight years at the search giant, but did not say where.

Gundotra, head of social networking services, created social network Google+ and pushed it aggressively to help company close the gap with other rivals over social media.

But, the Mumbai-born 45-year old said in a note posted on Google+ titled "And then", it was now "time for a new journey. A continuation."

Google confirmed Gundotra's resignation. "Vic cut his teeth on our mobile apps and developer relations, turning Google's disparate efforts into something great," said Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page.

Though Google has not named his successor, reports suggested it will probably be Google+ vice-president of engineering David Besbris — and not Gundotra's top lieutenant Bradley Horowitz.

Gundotra's exit still leaves two Indian-Americans in Page's trusted circle of executives called the L Team — Chrome boss Sunder Pichai and VP engineering Sridhar Ramaswamy.

Senior vice-president and chief business officer Nikesh Arora continues to figure at number four on Google's list of top executives after Page, Eric Schmidt and Sergy Brin.

Gundotra has not indicated where he was going next. "I am excited about what's next. But this isn't the day to talk about that. This is a day to celebrate the past 8 years. To cry. And smile."