Augmented reality firm Magic Leap has undergone a massive leadership reshuffle, namely after three top execs resigned and a former was reinstated, Business Insider reported this week.
Citing two sources familiar with the matter, the report found Chief Technology Officer Paul Greco and Chief Operating Officer Henk Vliestra have resigned from their positions, with the former leaving in June and the latter by the end of the year. Both joined Magic Leap in 2013.
Chief Patent Officer David Lundmark is also set to leave the firm in June, and Magic Leap’s general counsel is set to take on his responsibilities.
The VR firm’s chief financial officer will take over Mr Vliestra’s duties, according to one of the sources.
The resignations were reportedly announced during a meeting on Tuesday, the report said, adding the firm has rehired former Chief Marketing Officer Daniel Diez.
Magic Leap Shakeup ahead of New Product Launch
The news comes nearly a year after the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Peggy Johnson, assumed her role after replacing outgoing CEO Rony Abovitz in 2020. Mr Abovitz remains a company advisor.
The company also faced further setbacks after laying off 1,000 employees, or roughly half of the firm’s workers, in April last year following major restructuring efforts, according to Bloomberg.
According to sources quoted by Insider, Johnson and Greco disagreed on a decision to release software from the CTO group, but the report failed to confirm whether it had triggered Mr Greco’s resignation.
Magic Leap later hired Chief Software and Cloud Officer Anuj Gosalia along with Chief Product Officer Tracey Trewin in March.
The developments come as the VR company is set to release its next-generation headset, the Magic Leap 2, in the fourth fiscal quarter this year along with general availability in the first quarter 2022.
The VR firm also announced in June it would partner with US chipmaker AMD for an AR solutions complete with a bespoke system-on-a-chip (SoC) to boost processing power for virtual content creators.
