Google announced Thursday night that Kai-Fu Lee, president of its Chinese operations, will leave the company later this month to launch an undisclosed project.
Kai-Fu, who joined the Internet search giant in 2005 after several years at Microsoft, played a key role in overseeing Google’s growth in China. Interestingly, just last week, the U.K.’s Telegraph ran this story that quoted Kai-Fu about his thoughts on mobile computing.
“Yes, we can confirm he is leaving us,” a Google spokesperson told Reuters, but declined to give more details.
I know what Beijing-based Kai-Fu is up to and why it’s of prime interest to the venture capital community. But I’ll honor the embargo until Sunday when Kai-Fu has promised to reveal all.
However, speculation abounds online about his new WABs. I saw one report that said this new project of his was a startup, which would seem to indicate that the 47-year-old Kai-Fu is launching a company. Not true.
I also read online that Kai-Fu is working with IdeaLab. I can find no truth to that rumor. IdeaLab-like would be a better way of saying it. But before I let slip the details of his new venture and break the embargo, I’ll zip up.
If Kai-Fu’s name sounds familiar, that’s because Microsoft sued him and Google when he switched companies. Microsoft claimed Kai-Fu violated his non-compete agreement by working for Google so soon after leaving the Redmond, Wash.-based company. Microsoft won a temporary restraining order that prohibited Kai-Fu–who was born in Taiwan and grew up in the United States–from working on certain Google projects. The dispute lasted for several months before the two sides reached a settlement.
