Oculus founder admits he gave $10,000 to Nimble America

SAN FRANCISCO — Oculus founder Palmer Luckey acknowledged giving $10,000 to Nimble America but denied he was the founder of the pro-Donald Trump group which created anti-Hillary Clinton Internet memes.

Luckey, who sold his virtual reality company to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, said he donated the money "because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards." Nimble America put up a billboard near Pittsburgh featuring a distorted image of Clinton with the caption: "too big to jail."

Luckey's involvement in Nimble America, reported Thursday by The Daily Beast, roiled the community of virtual reality software developers, some of whom threatened to stop making games for Oculus, a unit of Facebook. Oculus plans to hold its annual conference for developers Oculus Connect on Oct. 5.

In a Facebook post late Friday, Luckey said he was "deeply sorry" his actions "are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners."

Luckey said his actions did not represent the views of Oculus and denied a report that he wrote posts associated with the group or that he supports Trump. He said he is a libertarian who plans to vote for Gary Johnson.

"I don't have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America," Luckey wrote.

In May, Facebook board member Peter Thiel said he spent $10 million to back a lawsuit against Gawker Media that resulted in its bankruptcy.
Thiel, a Trump delegate, spoke at the Republican National Convention in July.