Three top Magic Leap executives — chief technology officer Paul Greco, chief operating officer Henk Vlietstra, and chief patent officer David Lundmark — are reportedly leaving in the coming months. Insider reported the news yesterday, saying that Magic Leap has also rehired its former chief marketing officer Daniel Diez.
Three Magic Leap executives are reportedly leaving the company
And one is coming back
And one is coming back
Photo by James Bareham / The Verge
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
It’s not clear exactly why Greco, Vlietstra, and Lundmark are leaving the company. But Insider says Greco disagreed with Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson — who replaced co-founder Rony Abovitz last year — over a choice to move the software division out of the CTO’s purview. Most of Vlietstra and Lundmark’s responsibilities are reportedly shifting to other executives at Magic Leap.
Greco and Vlietstra have both been at the company since 2013; Greco was the company’s VP of hardware before being named CTO in 2020, and Vlietstra was named COO in 2018. Meanwhile, Diez is apparently returning to Magic Leap this month after departing in 2020, a year that saw Magic Leap downsize a huge portion of its workforce. A Magic Leap spokesperson declined to comment on Insider’s story.
Magic Leap has shifted course dramatically since its founding in 2010 — evolving from an entertainment company to an augmented reality tech startup, then receiving nearly $3 billion in funding for a consumer-friendly AR headset, and finally pivoting to enterprise customers before its dramatic contraction last year. It’s continued that pivot under Johnson, a former Microsoft executive, and plans to release a second-generation headset in limited quantities by late 2021.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
