Forbes updated that Google's CFO would retire. Why? Two theories are doing the rounds in the blogosphere:
1) Reyes is retiring at his peak *and* after working hard for 6 years at the iconic internet company. Timing couldnt have been better to take a break and chill. Believable.
2) There might be some slow-down brewing up at Google and the next CFO might have a rougher ride. John Battelle subscribes to this viewpoint. In John's words "future for Google's new CFO is going to be rough: Think Microsoft after Windows had its initial run. Ho to keep the Street happy when it expects double digit growth every quarter. Ick." Possible. Lets see.
Q2 wasnt a blockbuster quarter for Google. Its revenue grew only 6% quarter over quarter -- a number that surprised many. Om Malik did write a long uncomforable note "So Google Stumbles should anyone care?" on the lack of consistency in what was announced by the execs and what he (OM) read between the lines:
It was, in my experience, the most unsettling Google call in at least a couple of years...the revenue growth rate was disarmingly slow: 6% higher than its last quarter. That’s the lowest quarter-on-quarter revenue growth that Google has shown since it went public.
