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The Real Reason Palmer Luckey Was Fired From Facebook (zdnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the connect-the-dots dept.

ZDNet's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols argues that the founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, wasn't fired because of his political views, as a recently-published Wall Street Journal article suggests, but because the virtual-reality company lost a $500 million intellectual property theft case to game maker ZeniMax. An anonymous reader shares the report: According to The Wall Street Journal, Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, a virtual reality company, was fired by Facebook because "he donated $10,000 to an anti-Hillary Clinton group" during the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. But the article fails to mention a simple little fact: On Feb. 1, 2017, Oculus lost an intellectual property (IP) theft case against game maker ZeniMax, to the tune of $500 million. So, if one of your employees just cost your company a cool half-billion bucks for doing wrong what would you do? Well, Facebook isn't saying, even now, but on March 30, 2017, it let Luckey go.

Yes, Luckey also lied about his political moves, which went well beyond donating to an anti-Hillary billboard campaign. But let's look at the record. Everyone knew he'd lied by Feb. 22, 2016. Was he fired then? No. Was he fired after being found guilty of stealing ZeniMax's trade secrets? Yes. Officially, Facebook stated: "All details associated with specific personnel matters are kept strictly confidential. This is our policy for all employees, no matter their seniority. But we can say unequivocally that Palmer's departure was not due to his political views." Let me spell it out for you: He made some political waves. Nothing happened. He cost Facebook $500 million. He was fired. Can anyone here seriously not draw the lines between the dots?

11 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. TRASH Article by bongey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    John Carmack still works for Facebook, who was a party in the ZeniMax case. Palmer Luckey wasn't even a party in the case. Utter bullshit story trying to deflect.

    1. Re:TRASH Article by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Also, as any freshman business major can tell you, sunk costs should be ignored. You don't fire people because they lost money in the past, you fire them because you think they are going to lose money in the future.

      My experience is that the most common reason people are fired is incompetence. The 2nd most common is being on the losing end of internal office politics. As you move up the hierarchy from janitor to CEO the first reason diminishes and the 2nd increases.

    2. Re:TRASH Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      NO!! ORANGE MAN BAD!!!!!

    3. Re:TRASH Article by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My experience is that the most common reason people are fired is incompetence.

      Costing the company half a billion dollars might be seen as incompetence in some circles.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:TRASH Article by squiggleslash · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Carmack is an important software developer who knows how the system works. Luckey isn't. He's an entrepreneur, not an engineer.

      Additionally Facebook has pro-Trump people on its board, including Peter Thiel, who gave far more to the Trump campaign than Luckey, so the argument that Facebook fired anyone for supporting Trump is plain ludicrous on the face of it.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    5. Re:TRASH Article by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Also, as any freshman business major can tell you, sunk costs should be ignored. You don't fire people because they lost money in the past, you fire them because you think they are going to lose money in the future.

      As anyone who's older than freshmen will tell you that never happens in practice. Businesses do not operate in some sort of platonic drive for profit free from emotion. They're made of people and people get really pissed off if you loose a cool half billion.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  2. "Let me spell it out for you" by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The author of the article seems very intent on the readers taking his speculation as truth. I wonder why he cares so much.

  3. Palmer Luckey is a proven thief. by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    On Feb. 1, 2017, Oculus lost an intellectual property (IP) theft case against game maker ZeniMax, to the tune of $500 million.

    So a civil court (not a criminal court) found him guilty of theft.

    How can your boss, your company (the group of people you work with), or your Company (Facebook Inc) ever trust you not to steal from them?

    He's lucky not to be leaving in handcuffs.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  4. Uh huh. Sure. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    There were other people involved in that case that still work for Facebook.

    They fired him because the political views were a huge embarrassment for their pro left management and you have NO IDEA how much of a career killer it is to come out as pro-right in Silicon Valley. They will literally want to hang you by the neck from a tree till dead.

  5. Re:I don't know why he was fired by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well his presence rather undermines the notion that people get fired for for the political views or that Facebook itself has some kind of corporate level political agenda.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  6. Re: I don't know why he was fired by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Indeed. Let's stamp out all dissent immediately that does not fit our one-party view of the world. Let us ensure all news outlets that do not conform to the Democrat party standard be associated with extreme Nazi fascism, crushed out of existence, their people imprisoned and their property confiscated.

    Long live the party of Clinton and Podesta!