One of the top Facebook executives, Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor, has recently announced his departure from the social networking company, to start a business with his friend and Google engineer Kevin Gibbs.

Taylor's decision to leave Facebook comes almost a month after the social network's troubled IPO. The announcement is somewhat surprising because Taylor had addressed Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference
(WWDC) this week; and had enthusiastically talked about Facebook's planned integration with iOS.

At the WWDC event, Taylor had specifically drawn attention to the fact that the Facebook-iOS integration was one of the most notable moves made by the social network of late, along with the site's Open Graph and App Center integration.

Taylor - who had co-founded an earlier social networking startup called FriendFeed in 2007; and is an ex-Google employee - had joined Facebook in the year 2009; and is leaving the company to set up an undisclosed company with Gibbs.

About his departure from the social network, Taylor said on his Facebook page that he was thankful to the Facebook staff for their support; and added that, during his tenure at the company, he had "learned more than I ever imagined."

Extending a "special thanks" to the Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Taylor said: "You've not only been my boss for the past three years, but my mentor and one of my closest friends."