Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey resurfaces, refutes Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak comments
The founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, quietly slipped back onto the public stage this week after a tumultuous year that ended with his departure from Facebook in March.
First, Luckey appeared on Twitter on Wednesday, after months of silence, using a telling new bio image instead of his own face: Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mysterious, sometimes misunderstood Jedi in Star Wars who fights for the good side of The Force.
It was his first Twitter post since the one back in September, in which he apologized for his actions related to a political action group producing anti-Hillary Clinton pro-Donald Trump content.
On the same day that Luckey reappeared on social media, Mother Jones published a story claiming that he donated $100,000 to the Trump inaugural committee in January. Luckey didn't directly refute the claim, but did post a Twitter message indicating that he's seen the story and may disagree with its content, despite the fact that he declined to offer the publication comment on its claims.
Meanwhile, Luckey also renewed his presence on Reddit by engaging users on the Oculus subreddit. Although he remained fairly vague on the specifics of anything regarding politics or his departure from Facebook and Oculus, he did offer insight into what he thinks about the nature of living in the public eye.
"Some people want founders to keep their politics private and away from their business ... You can't make everyone happy." -Palmer Luckey
"Some people want founders to keep their politics private and away from their business, others think they should do everything out in the open in a vocal way. You can't make everyone happy, and there are good arguments on both sides, but it is clear that people who happen to align with opinions held by the majority of the media come out ahead either way," wrote Luckey on a Reddit post linking a story about Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak saying he was "disappointed that [Luckey] was doing this behind the scenes stuff" with regard to political activity.
"The idea that anonymity=wrongdoing is a dangerous one," Luckey continued. "It is a significant factor in the ongoing erosion of our digital liberties, and is used to justify things like mass data collection and encryption backdoors. Nothing to fear if you are not doing anything wrong, right? … trying to stay out of the political spotlight should not be condemned."
But regardless of Luckey's response to Wozniak, or his political leanings, with a personal fortune estimated to be around $700 million, and at just 24 years old, it's almost certain he'll harness his wealth to fund another tech startup.
When that happens, we'll see just how far the well-worn American notion of second chances stretches when it comes to millennial tech founders who find themselves at odds with the industry's political and cultural currents.
