According to Barra’s post on Facebook, “But what I’ve realized is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I’ve left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return.”
Barra was widely considered to be the international face for the company and when he first joined the company, he had big ambitions to turn the Chinese smartphone maker into the next Google or Amazon. Granted Barra is just one man, but with his experience in the US market and the tech scene, we have to wonder if his departure from the company could somehow hamper Xiaomi’s plans to enter the US, which at the moment has yet to happen.
It is unclear as to what Barra’s plans for the future is, so we’ll just have to wait and see.