Android Creator Andy Rubin Takes Leave From Essential After Report of ‘Inappropriate Relationship’
Move follows report that Andy Rubin left Google shortly after internal investigation in 2014
Sean Burch | November 30, 2017 @ 8:26 AM
Last Updated: November 30, 2017 @ 8:39 AM
Getty Images
Android creator Andy Rubin announced Monday he was taking a one-month leave of absence as CEO of the smartphone company Essential for “personal reasons.”
The decision was made public shortly after The Information reported that Rubin was investigated by Google for an “inappropriate relationship with a subordinate” during his time at the tech giant.
Google policy doesn’t allow romantic relationships between managers and subordinates, and its internal investigation found Rubin’s “behavior was improper and showed bad judgement.,” according to The Information.
The site further reported that an employee working on the Android team complained to Google’s human resources department about her relationship with Rubin; the specifics on the complaint and her relationship with Rubin weren’t mentioned. Rubin left Google in 2014 shortly after the investigation.
“Any relationship that Mr. Rubin had while at Google was consensual,” Mike Sitrick, a representative for Rubin, told TheWrap. “Mr. Rubin was never told by Google that he engaged in any misconduct while at Google and he did not, either while at Google or since.”
Essential told TheVerge Rubin had asked for his leave earlier in the month and that Niccolo de Masi, Essential’s president, had filled the void.
“At our last regularly scheduled board meeting earlier in November, Andy asked for a leave of absence to deal with personal matters,” the company said in its statement. “The board agreed and our president, Niccolo de Masi, will continue to run day-to-day operations at Essential.”
Rubin joined Google in 2005 after selling Android for an undisclosed sum. As SVP of Mobile and Digital Content, Rubin oversaw the further development of Android under the Google umbrella.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.