Palmer Luckey, the inventor of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, has left Facebook following the news that he financially backed an organisation that supported Donald Trump and created anti-Hillary Clinton memes. Luckey has left Facebook just three years after the social giant bought his VR hardware company Oculus Rift for $2 billion (£1.6bn). “Palmer […]
Palmer Luckey, the inventor of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, has left Facebook following the news that he financially backed an organisation that supported Donald Trump and created anti-Hillary Clinton memes.
Luckey has left Facebook just three years after the social giant bought his VR hardware company Oculus Rift for $2 billion (£1.6bn).
“Palmer will be dearly missed,” said Facebook in a statement given to tech news site Ars Technica.
No personal statement from Mr Luckey about his future plans has yet appeared.
Luckey had been the public face of Oculus since 2012 and regularly gave presentations at industry events about VR’s potential.
The surprise departures comes after months of speculation regarding his position at Facebook’s office following his being forced to apologise for donating $10,000 to Nimble America, an advertising agency that supported Trump’s campaign.
The organisation created pro-Trump posts such as a meme that featured Clinton’s face and the words “Too big to jail”. Luckey has largely kept from the public eye since the news broke last September.
It is not clear whether Luckey resigned or was told to leave, but Oculus Rift said: “Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer’s legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and build an industry. We’re thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best.”
