Magic Leap Shakes Up C-Suite, Shuffles Two Top Executives to Advisory Roles

In the aftermath of the launch of the Magic Leap One, Magic Leap has ejected two more executives from their leadership roles.

Chief marketing officer Brenda Freeman and chief business officer Rachna Bhasin have been transitioned into advisory roles but will continue to report to CEO Rony Abovitz.

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Freeman and Bhasin joined Magic Leap in the fourth quarter of 2016, a time when the company was making noise about the impending launch of its first augmented reality device.

In fact, shortly after arriving at Magic Leap in Dec. 2016, Freeman proclaimed that Magic Leap was "racing towards launch." About a year later, Magic Leap did unveil Magic Leap One, but it did not launch until August 2018.

"Following the successful launch of the Magic Leap One Creator Edition, Brenda Freeman will be taking on a new role for Magic Leap as Special Projects Advisor reporting to the CEO," the company wrote in a statement provided to TechCrunch.

"In this role, Brenda will serve as a prominent advocate for Magic Leap, helping to tell the story of how we bring the Magicverse to life through the power of spatial computing. Brenda will continue to be a fearless leader for doing things differently and remains a passionate advocate for creating a technology ecosystem that is both vibrant and culturally diverse. We are excited to work with Brenda in her new role."

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Bhasin, who joined joined Magic Leap shortly before Freeman in Oct. 2016, was the voice of the company during the announcement of strategic partnerships with Shutterstock, Air New Zealand, and Framestore, which partnered with the airline to develop Fact or Fantasy Game for Magic Leap One.

"Rachna Bhasin joined Magic Leap to launch our first product and with the successful debut of the Magic Leap One Creator Edition in August, she is now transitioning to a senior advisory role at Magic Leap reporting to the CEO," the company's statement read. "We are extremely grateful for Rachna's contributions to Magic Leap to date and she continues to be a valuable member of our team."

The moves form a pattern of leadership moves surrounding the launch of Magic Leap One. In the days before the launch of Magic Leap One, news broke that Jeff Gattis, vice president of product marketing, had left the company due to personal reasons. On launch day, the company revealed that it had hired Omar Khan as chief product officer in mid-July.

While Magic Leap has not confirmed as much to Next Reality, the move appears to be a diplomatic means of shifting the company's direction, with the launch of Magic Leap One now in its rearview mirror.