Hugo Barra, the much-celebrated ex-Xiaomi executive, is all set to join Facebook as the Head of VR. In his previous roles, Hugo Barra was VP for Android at Google. Hugo who joined Xiaomi three years ago was crucial in expanding Xiaomi to South and East Asian countries. Under his leadership, Xiaomi debuted in countries like Indian and went on to become a dominant player with $1 Billion revenues in 2016.
Joining Facebook as VP of virtual reality (VPVR!) to lead Team @Oculus. So excited! Mark posted about it here: https://t.co/kYgIniSQiM pic.twitter.com/7fYTkniykr
— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) January 26, 2017
Barra will be leading all of Facebook’s VR efforts, including Oculus. The news was announced by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, on his FB profile. Earlier Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe stepped down to move into a role leading Oculus’ PC-focused VR efforts.
Barra in his departure announcement on his FB profile cited health and family reasons. Xiaomi Senior vice president Xiang Wang was appointed in place of Hugo to lead the international business of Xiaomi. Xiang who joined Xiaomi in 2015 was a former head of Qualcomm China.
Source: Zuckerberg FB profile, Hugo Barra Twitter profile.