After 14 years with Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), Ash Patel is finally ready to call it quits this week, Techcrunch reports. Yahoo observers have often speculated about when Patel would depart. He started at Yahoo in April 1996, just before Yahoo went public. He’s held a variety of titles, with the most recent one being EVP for product architecture and strategy. The other hats he’s worn at Yahoo have included chief product officer and “technical Yahoo,” a catch-all job post that identified early Yahoo engineers. Yahoo did not return our calls for comment.

Patel met with Techcrunch’s Michael Arrington, but he didn’t offer any specifics about what he would do next. He talked about spending time with family and continuing to advise startups, though he didn’t offer any indications that he would be forming a new company himself.