Magic Leap Taps Microsoft Executive Peggy Johnson as New CEO

By Dave Sebastian 

Magic Leap Inc., the maker of augmented-reality headsets, Tuesday named a top Microsoft Corp. executive, Peggy Johnson, as its new chief executive officer effective Aug. 1.

Ms. Johnson served as executive vice president of business development at Microsoft, a role in which she handled the company's relationship with the venture-capital space. She will succeed founder Rony Abovitz, who in May said he was stepping down. Mr. Abovitz will remain as CEO during the transition period.

Before joining Microsoft in 2014, Ms. Johnson was at Qualcomm Inc. for 24 years, during which she held positions in engineering, sales, marketing and business development.

In April, Mr. Abovitz said the company laid off a number of its staff, from Mr. Abovitz's direct reports to factory employees, as it aimed to cut costs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The spatial-computing startup has raised $3.48 billion in funding, including $350 million this year, according to PitchBook data. The company was valued at about $6.69 billion as of April 2019, the data show. Its investors include Alphabet Inc.'s venture arm, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Qualcomm Ventures.

Write to Dave Sebastian at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 07, 2020 11:34 ET (15:34 GMT)

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