The search is over: Google has a new CFO

For a company that made its name in search, Google sure took its time finding a new chief financial  officer, telecommunications executive Patrick Pichette.

Pichette succeeds George Reyes, who shepherded Google through its 2004 initial public offering and announced in August that he would leave the Internet giant.

Pichette, 45, previously worked as president of operations at Canada's largest phone company, BCE, Google said in a statement. Pichette (pictured at right), who will report to Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, starts work at the Googleplex on Aug. 1. He will assume responsibility for the company's financial operations on Aug. 12.

His appointment is significant, coming at a time when the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet giant is pushing into the mobile phone space.

Schmidt recently shrugged off questions about why it had taken so long to secure Reyes' replacement. He said Google had a "large number" of "interesting candidates," but that Google was an unusual company. "We have to find a CFO who meets the legal and experience requirements and who works the way we work," Schmidt said. "It's hard."

"It took over a year to find George," he added.

Said Google co-founder Larry Page: "We're picky."

Guess they can afford to be.

-- Jessica Guynn

Photo courtesy of Google

Comments

[Gaias Child]

Google's kind of the Sara Lee of internetting ... nobody doesn't like Google. So it's getting into telephony is it? Could that be why Comcast made me such a wonderful offer? Competition? Great!! It's not a good time for me to pay more for anything at all.