Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms, Inc. appear to be putting their troubled past behind them.
This reconciliation could herald a new era of innovation in the virtual reality space.
From Acquisition To Acrimony
The story began in 2014 when Facebook acquired Luckey’s Oculus for a staggering $2.2 billion. However, the partnership soured in 2016 when Luckey became embroiled in political controversy over his donation to a pro-Donald Trump group. This led to internal and external criticism, ultimately resulting in Luckey’s departure from Facebook in 2017.
Parallel Paths Of Success
Post-separation, both parties have seen considerable success: Luckey founded Anduril Industries, a defense tech company now valued at $14 billion.
Meanwhile, Meta continued to invest heavily in VR and augmented reality technologies.
Reconnecting After A Tumultuous Split
Eight years after a contentious parting of ways, Luckey made headlines last month by returning to Meta’s headquarters.
The visit, which included testing Meta’s cutting-edge Orion prototype glasses, marks a significant shift in the relationship between the VR innovator and the tech giant.
Following his visit, Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth publicly apologized for past comments about Luckey’s exit.
"I mentioned this in person, but I also wanted to publicly apologize for my previous comments about your time at (then) Oculus. I'm sorry," Bosworth stated.
Luckey accepted the apology while also acknowledging changes in Meta’s leadership.
"Apology accepted," he said, adding, "I am infamously good at holding grudges, but Meta has changed a lot over the past 8 years. "
"The people responsible for my ouster and internal/external smear campaign aren’t even around anymore."
After these statements, All-In Podcast host Jason Calacanis continued to push Luckey to reveal more information and tagged Zuckerberg to reveal all the facts.
However, Luckey said that he had already explained that Zuckerberg had nothing to do with it.
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Potential for Future Collaboration
Zuckerberg expressed admiration for Luckey in an interview with Tablet Magazine, stating, “I have a huge amount of respect for Palmer—both for what he’s done for VR and for now achieving the rare feat of building multiple successful companies.”
The Meta CEO added that he hopes for future collaboration opportunities. Luckey reciprocated this sentiment on social media, indicating his openness to working with Zuckerberg again.
Photo Courtesy: Palmertech Through Wikimedia Commons
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