Piper Jaffray financial analyst Safa Rashtchy has been covering the search space seriously for years. He was one of the first analysts I recall looking hard at the industry before it became clear to the world how much money it was generated. He’s now leaving Piper Jaffray and has sent news of his departure, as of June 30, to clients and others in the email. Some key points from that:

As you may have already heard, yesterday we announced that I am retiring from the sell side, after ten excellent years that I will always remember and cherish. The decision was not easy for me and, in fact, I have been thinking about it for quite some time now. Part of my reluctance was based on the desire to continue to expand the strong platform that we have built here at Piper, a process that I have enjoyed over the past years, and one that has been fruitful both for our clients and for us at Piper. I also wanted to make sure that after my departure, the platform continues its strong reputation and further expands. I am happy that the new team which will include Aaron Kessler and Gene Munster, as well as a number of other analysts, is exactly capable of this, and thus, I can leave without worry. Aaron and Gene, as well as the rest of the new Internet and China team, are highly thoughtful, intelligent, and well-respected analysts, who I am convinced will maintain our high standards and further expand the platform. Over the next few weeks, we will transition coverage of my universe to the new team.

My last day at Piper will be June 30, although I will be on vacation for a good part of the time between now and then. I am planning to take at least the second half of the year off, before I decide on my next activity. I remain interested in global investment opportunities in the media, consumer, and technology sectors. In the meantime, there are many interests and causes that I would like to devote more of my time to, during the rest of this year and for as long as I can continue.

Best wishes, Safa!

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About The Author: Danny Sullivan is editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also oversees Search Engine Land’s SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference series. He maintains a personal blog called Daggle (and maintains his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google + and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan