Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Oculus VR and creator of both the original concept and prototypes for the Oculus Rift headset, has announced (via UploadVR) his departure from their parent company, Facebook.
His leaving the company will happen this week, as Friday is reportedly his last day as an employee of Facebook. The company provided a 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.”
When Facebook was asked if Luckey’s departure was voluntary, Facebook representatives declined to comment, stating their policy regarding the matter forbids discussing internal employee matters.
Palmer sold Oculus VR to Facebook back in 2014 for a whopping $2 billion, as the company looked to aggressively expand their reach into tech. Luckey has since withdrawn from public life for the most part after this deal, with some journalists literally stalking his every move.