Hugo Barra leaving Xiaomi to return to Silicon Valley

Xiaomi VP of International, Hugo Barra, has announced on Facebook that he'll be leaving Xiaomi and returning to Silicon Valley. Barra has been the face of Xiaomi outside of China for more than three years and presented the keynote at Xiaomi's first ever CES earlier this year.

Barra was previously a Vice President at Google, overseeing its Android division, before joining Xiaomi in August 2013. Barra called his time at the Chinese company "the greatest and most challenging adventure of my life," and said he feels he's leaving it in a "good place on its global expansion path. At the same time, he said that "living in such a singular environment has taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health."

Under Barra's direction, the company has grown rapidly, and at one point was China’s biggest smartphone vendor. It is unknown what company and in what capacity Barra's new job will be, however he stated he will "build from scratch a startup team within a bigger startup."

The split with Xiaomi appears to be amicable at this time, with Barra stating that Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has "been very supportive of my transition and has asked me to remain an advisor to Xiaomi indefinitely."

Source: Hugo Barra Facebook

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