Palmer Luckey doesn't work for Facebook anymore
He sold his VR company to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. Now, he's out, almost exactly three years later.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey almost single-handedly rekindled the world's interest in virtual reality, starting with a humble Kickstarter campaign. Now, he's about to leave the brand he helped create. His last day is Friday, a Facebook representative confirmed to CNET.
In March 2014, Facebook announced it would buy Oculus VR for nearly $2 billion, a move that spurred interest and investment in VR to the level we see today.
But after a reportedly slow start for the Oculus Rift headset and an expose where Luckey was found lying about his involvement in an anti-Hillary Clinton smear group, Facebook began to distance itself from the embattled co-founder and the grassroots brand he helped create.
Even as Facebook maintained that he was still an employee, the typically front-and-center Luckey disappeared from social media and stopped making public appearances altogether -- unless you count his testimony in the Oculus-ZeniMax trial.
Here's Facebook's statement:
"Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer's legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and helped build an industry. We're thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best."
Luckey didn't respond to a request for comment.
[via UploadVR]
Disclosure: Sean's wife works for Facebook, owner of Oculus, as a business-to-business video project manager.