Google's Kimber jumps to Friendster

Google's managing director of its South-East Asia operations Richard Kimber has left the search giant to take up a new role as the CEO of US social networking site, Friendster.

Richard Kimber
(Credit: Informa)

A spokesperson for Google confirmed that Kimber, who has been based in Sydney in the role since 2006, had "recently" left the company.

Google would not say why Kimber left, however, the spokesperson said Google wished Kimber the best in his new role.

Kimber was hired in 2006 as Google's managing director of its South-East operations, which covers its businesses in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Korea.

Google's Australia and New Zealand managing director Karim Temsamani has reported to Kimber since his appointment in 2007.

Prior to Kimber joining Google, he was chief executive of HSBC Group's FirstDirect Bank in the UK.

It is understood that Friendster will be announcing a major investment in its technology, which currently supports a user base of 75 million.