Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey is departing from Facebook, the virtual reality firm’s parent company, after three years under the umbrella of the social network, according to a report from UploadVR.
Luckey, who was the architect behind the original Oculus Rift headset concept and creator of a number of the early prototypes for the device, will mark his last official day at the company next Friday. Facebook, which bought Oculus for $2 billion in 2014, has not publicly commented on Palmer’s departure.
Luckey, who is reportedly worth $730 million according to Forbes, has been a silent partner within the company with his future there in flux after it was discovered he funded a group of trolls who promoted Donald Trump and spread memes on social media in opposition of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Luckey largely disappeared from the public eye after his involvement in the politically-driven social media campaigns, likely in part because Oculus parent company Facebook was facing challenges over its role in spreading false information during the election cycle.
He has been silent on social media since Sept. 23, 2016, when he tweeted a link to a Facebook post in which he apologized for his role in the controversy, and for several unsettling posts made under a pseudonym that were also unearthed. The co-creator of Oculus did appear in court to testify in a case in which Oculus was alleged to have stolen intellectual property. The court found in favor of ZeniMax, the company suing Oculus and Facebook, and Luckey and fellow co-founder Brendan Iribe were ordered to pay $500 million for copyright infringement.
Despite the controversies, Luckey had been directly involved in much of Oculus’ development and growth. The company co-founder went so far as to deliver in person the first consumer Oculus Rift to a customer in Alaska.
