A top executive at Facebook has been fired—apparently, because of his support for President Donald Trump.
Palmer Luckey, 26, who founded Facebook’s virtual reality division Oculus, was fired in March 2017. At the time, no concrete reason was given for Luckey’s dismissal.
But now, Luckey is apparently setting the record straight: he was fired because he donated $10,000 to an anti-Hillary group before the 2016 election.
According to sources, once his donation went public, top Facebook brass—including CEO Mark Zuckerberg—tried to strongarm Luckey into publicly claiming he supported Gary Johnson, the 2016 Libertarian candidate. When Luckey refused, he was put on leave and then fired.
Zuckerberg has since claimed Luckey’s dismissal wasn’t politically motivated—but Luckey filed a suit claiming that Zuckerberg had broken California law, which prohibits discrimination based on political affiliation.
Luckey was able to negotiate a hefty $100 million severance package.
Amid these new reports, Facebook has continued to deny political motivation. In an email to the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Facebook wrote, “We can say unequivocally that Palmer’s departure was not due to his political views. We’re grateful for Palmer’s contributions to Oculus, and we’re glad he continues to actively support the VR industry.”
