Alex Kipman, the technology expert at Microsoft, who invented Xbox Kinect and the ‘Mixed Reality’ glasses HoloLens, is leaving the company. He was considered an ‘untouchable golden boy’ at the corporation. Officially, Kipman is leaving Microsoft of his own accord and due to a ‘restructuring,’ however, serious allegations have reportedly been raised against him.
Who is the developer? Alex Kipman, the Brazilian tech expert at Microsoft, is leaving the company after 21 years. With Xbox Kinect and the HoloLens, Kipman has made a name for himself particularly in the area of augmented reality.
His departure became known after Geekwire was leaked an internal email. In this email, the head of the Cloud and AI department at Microsoft, Scott Guthrie, mentions ‘restructuring measures’ as a result of which Kipman will vacate his position.
What are the reasons for his departure? Guthrie thanks Kipman in the leaked email for his ‘vision,’ his successes at Microsoft, as well as for his contribution to Microsoft’s metaverse project. But now is ‘the right time’ for Kipman to take on new challenges outside of Microsoft.
Thus, Kipman’s voluntary resignation has occurred after discussions in recent months, according to the email. The HoloLens developer is expected to stay at Microsoft for another 2 months.
What is not mentioned in this email is that serious allegations have been made against Kipman. In a ‘Business Insider’ article from May 25, Kipman was referred to as an ‘untouchable’ employee and ‘golden boy’ at Microsoft because he was allowed to keep his job despite numerous complaints and many alleged wrongdoings.
Report: Women should not be left alone near Kipman
What were the complaints? Kipman was accused of often being sexually inappropriate.
The collaboration with Kipman reportedly became so bad that over 25 employees jointly compiled a report detailing all his inappropriate behaviors and misconducts. This document was sent to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
According to three sources, managers even warned others not to leave women alone with Kipman. He allegedly massaged a woman’s shoulder without permission. When she tried to stop him, Kipman continued, which she found to be ‘very uncomfortable.’
The word ‘uncomfortable’ was also used by a source for an incident involving VR pornography. One evening in 2015, when the company’s mixed-reality team was experimenting with a prototype, Kipman reportedly put on a VR headset to try it out.
During this, he allegedly watched a virtual reality porn that featured an ‘overtly sexist pillow fight.’ All employees in the room could also involuntarily see this video on a monitor in the room, according to the report.
Microsoft does not comment on allegations
What does Microsoft say about these allegations? Neither in the internal email nor in responses to journalists since the first report about Kipman’s behavior has Microsoft commented on these allegations.
Microsoft remains silent even now that Kipman’s planned departure has become public. To Kotaku, a Microsoft spokesperson only stated that there have been organizational changes in the mixed-reality team and that Kipman will leave the company to ‘pursue other interests,’ after he agreed to a two-month transition period.
Time and again, a sexism scandal overshadows the industry. Besides Activision Blizzard, which will soon also be part of Microsoft, there has also been a lawsuit against Sony:
PlayStation chief criticizes Activision Blizzard – Now Sony faces its own sexism lawsuit
