Xiaomi's Global Vice President Hugo Barra, who recently announced his departure from the Chinese electronics company, will move to Silicon Valley to head social media giant Facebook’s Virtual Reality team.
Facebook founder Mark Zukerberg confirmed that Hugo will head the company’s VR team.
“I am excited that Hugo Barra is joining Facebook to lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team. Hugo’s in China right now, so here we are together in VR. It seems fitting,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook wall.
Hugo will officially leave Xiaomi after the Chinese New Year in February. He will then take a break before heading back to Silicon Valley.
The former vice president of Google’s Android division first joined Xiaomi in September 2013 as Vice President of International. Under his charge, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer expanded its reach beyond China into regional markets such as Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
Hugo, the man responsible for leading Xiaomi’s global expansion, described his experience here as a ‘spectacular journey’ and said that it was time to return ‘home for a new adventure’.
“But what I've realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health," he said in a Facebook post.
"My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family," he added.
It was under his wing that Xiaomi marked its entry into other international markets including Brazil, Russia, Poland and Mexico.
Xiang Wang, who is currently Senior Vice President of Strategic Cooperation at Xiaomi, will be taking over the reins from Hugo.
