Oculus co-founder and former CEO Brendan Iribe is the latest executive to leave Facebook: Iribe announced on his Facebook profile Monday that he is leaving Oculus after six years. Facebook denied a Techcrunch report that the departure was prompted by a corporate decision to cancel plans for a second-generation Oculus Rift headset.
“I never could have imagined how much we would accomplish and how far we would come. And now, after six incredible years, I am moving on,” he wrote. “This will be the first real break I’ve taken in over 20 years. It’s time to recharge, reflect and be creative. I’m excited for the next chapter.”
Multiple Facebook executives thanked Iribe for is work following the announcement, with Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer writing that Iribe had “championed VR from its earliest days, when prototypes were still duct-taped and hot-glued,” and Facebook’s head of AR and VR Andrew Bosworth adding: “You built an incredible team and you defined the first generation of VR. We would not be where we are without your leadership.”
There are some indications that the departure wasn’t completely amicable. Techcrunch reported Monday that Facebook decided to cancel plans for a PC-powered Rift 2 headset that Iribe’s group had been working on, prompting him to throw the towel. Facebook subsequently denied this report, with a spokesperson telling Variety: “Yes, we are planning a future version of Rift.”
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Iribe co-founded Oculus in 2012, assuming the role of the company’s CEO. He continued to lead Oculus VR after its acquisition by Facebook in 2014, but was effectively demoted in 2016 when Facebook restructured Oculus to more closely align it with the mothership.
Back then, Iribe moved to lead the PC VR group, taking charge of the company’s Rift VR headset while it was at the same tim developing standalone devices like the Oculus Go and Oculus Quest.
Iribe used his post Monday to thank the Oculus team as well as Facebook CEO MArk Zuckerberg for believing in their vision. “The success of Oculus was only possible because of such an extraordinary team effort,” he wrote. “I’d like to sincerely thank everyone that’s been a part of this amazing journey, especially Mark for believing in this team and the future of VR and AR.”
Iribe is just the latest co-founder of a company acquired by Facebook to leave. In recent weeks, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom and Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger announced that they would leave the company. Whatsapp co-founder Jan Koum announced his departure in April.
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Update: 11:33am: Updated with a statement from Facebook.