Hugo Barra quits Xiaomi to return to Silicon Valley

After leaving a top job at Google for Chinese phone maker Xiaomi, Hugo Barra has announced he's resigning and coming back to Silicon Valley. About three and half years ago Barra was a big deal on the Android leadership team. He moved to China with the mission to bring the startup company into the worldwide spotlight. As vice president of Xiaomi Global. But that machine isn't as vital anymore because the company is fighting just to be successful in China where it lost the number one spot to other Chinese rivals like Huawei. Barra announced his resignation on Facebook and wrote that living in China has quote taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. He added that he misses life in Silicon Valley and wants to be closer to family. The Wall Street Journal reports that there may be a little more to the story than just missing home, it reports that there were business challenges and the global travel was grueling, making it hard to find time to study Chines and settle in. Under Barra's leadership, Xiaomu has seen success in India but not so much in other countries. Barra will be with the company for another month, then he'll take some time off. He hasn't said what his next project is gonna be but he will remain an advisor to the company. I'm Bridget Carey, you can stay on top of all the big changes in the tech world at cnet.com.