Brendan Iribe Explained

Brendan Iribe
Birth Date:12 August 1979
Birth Place:Maryland, U.S.
Alma Mater:University of Maryland, College Park (dropped out)
Occupation:Investor
Known For:CEO of Oculus VR (former)

Brendan Trexler Iribe (; born August 12, 1979) is an American game programmer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Oculus VR, Inc. and Scaleform. He is the managing partner at BIG Ventures, an early-stage venture fund.

Early life and education

Iribe was born and grew up in Maryland. He graduated from Atholton High School in Howard County, Maryland and then attended the University of Maryland, College Park,[1] majoring in Computer Science which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences in College Park for two semesters before dropping out to work as a freelance programmer.[2] [3] [4]

Career

He started his career as a game programmer and worked on the user interface of Civilization IV. He was cofounder/CEO of Scaleform, a user interface technology provider for PC games.[5] After Scaleform was sold to Autodesk, he worked as product team lead at Gaikai.[6] In August 2012, he departed Gaikai and became the new CEO of Oculus VR after their Kickstarter campaign for the Oculus Rift VR Headset raised $2.4 million.[7] In December 2016, he stepped down from the role of CEO and decided to lead its newly created PC VR group.[8] In October 2018, Brendan announced in a Facebook post he would be departing Oculus and its parent company Facebook, with no mention of future plans.[9] In December 2018, he invested in Sketchfab, an online platform for 3D and VR content.[10]

Philanthropy

In 2014 Iribe announced a $31 million dollar donation to his alma mater, University of Maryland, College Park.[11] $30 million was for the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering, a new building which includes labs for virtual reality, augmented reality, robotics, and artificial intelligence.[12] The remaining $1 million was donated to establish a scholarship fund. Iribe's mother, Elizabeth Iribe, also gave $3 million to set up two endowed chairs in the school's computer science department - the Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair and the Paul Chrisman Iribe Chair (named after her brother).[13]

Racing Record

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

Since departing Oculus in 2018, Iribe has focused his time on racing exotic cars manufactured by companies like McLaren and Ferrari.[14] [15]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamClassMakeEngine1234567891011 12Points
2021Inception Racing with Optimum MotorsportGTDMcLaren 720S GT3McLaren M840T 4.0L Turbo V8DAYSEBMDODETWGLWGLLIM
ELKLGALBHVIRPET
63rd209
2022Inception RacingGTDMcLaren 720S GT3McLaren M840T 4.0L Turbo V8DAY
SEB
LBH
LGA
MDO
DETWGL
MOS
LIM
ELK
VIR
PET
2
12th1644
2023Inception RacingGTDMcLaren 720S GT3 EvoMcLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8DAY
3
SEB
4
LBH
6
MON
5
WGL
15
MOS
2
LIM
13
ELK
2
VIR
7
IMS
16
PET
19
6th2853
2024Inception RacingGTDMcLaren 720S GT3 EvoMcLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8DAY
SEB
LBH
LGAWGLMOSELKVIRIMSPET10th*626*
Source:[16]

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLaps
2021 Inception Racing Ben Barnicoat
Ollie Millroy
Ferrari 488 GTE EvoGTE
Am
32741st12th
2022 Team Project 1 Ben Barnicoat
Ollie Millroy
Porsche 911 RSR-19GTE
Am
241DNFDNF
2024 Inception Racing Ollie Millroy
Frederik Schandorff
McLaren 720S GT3 EvoLMGT327540th13th
Source:

Notes and References

  1. News: College dropout donates $31 million to University of Maryland after technology company sells for $2 billion. Anderson. Nick. September 11, 2014. Washington Post. March 6, 2018. en-US. 0190-8286.
  2. News: Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Donates $31M To Build VR Lab At His Alma Mater University Of Maryland. Constine. Josh. September 11, 2014. TechCrunch. March 6, 2018. en.
  3. News: Howard County native gives $31 million to UM for computer science center. Bowie. Liz. September 11, 2014. Baltimore Sun. March 6, 2018. en-US. March 7, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180307150848/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-umd-donation-20140911-story.html. dead.
  4. News: Why Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Just Gave $31 Million To A New Computer Science Center. Kessler. Sarah. September 22, 2014. Fast Company. March 6, 2018. en-US.
  5. News: Palmer Luckey and the Virtual Reality Resurrection. Beilison. Jerry. May 28, 2014. Popular Mechanics. March 6, 2018. en-US.
  6. News: Students at Howard County's Application and Research Lab test new virtual reality gear. Michaels. Andrew. November 28, 2017. Howard County Times. March 6, 2018. en-US. June 21, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180621194424/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/ellicott-city/ph-ho-cf-arl-virtual-instruction-20171130-story.html. dead.
  7. Web site: August 15, 2012 . Gaikai executive jumps ship for Oculus Rift .
  8. News: Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe Steps Down; Will Lead PC VR Group. Cohen. David. December 13, 2016. AdWeek. March 6, 2018.
  9. News: So much has happened since the day we founded Oculus in July 2012. October 22, 2018. October 22, 2018. Facebook. en-US.
  10. Web site: Happy to share @brendaniribe (co-founder and former CEO of @oculus) recently joined the @Sketchfab journey as an investor. Great to have you on board, Brendan!. denoyel. alban. December 17, 2018. @albn. en. January 14, 2019.
  11. Web site: College Receives $38M for New Computer Science Building, Scholarships, Endowed Professorships . College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences . October 23, 2018 . en . September 12, 2014 . May 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210506011247/https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/2466 . dead .
  12. News: Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe Donates $31M To Build VR Lab At His Alma Mater University Of Maryland . October 23, 2018 . TechCrunch.
  13. News: UMD Receives $2.1M from the State of Maryland to Create Two Endowed Chairs . October 23, 2018 . College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences . September 10, 2015 . en . October 23, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181023120045/https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/3227 . dead .
  14. Web site: Driver: Brendan Iribe | Driver Database .
  15. https://www.imsa.com/news/2023/08/15/a-breakthrough-win-for-mclaren-seems-closer-than-ever-with-inception-racing/
  16. Web site: Brendan Iribe Results . 24 January 2024 . motorsportstats.com.