Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Profiles Magic Leap

Profiles · Companies and entities

ProfileCompany or group

Magic Leap

Other company

Type
Company or group
Role
Other company
Updated

The profile

Magic Leap, the Florida augmented-reality headset maker that had raised more than $2.6 billion, laid off about half its staff in April 2020, citing COVID-19, and turned from consumers to business and government buyers. SBA's PPP loan data list no loan to a borrower named Magic Leap.

  • Category: augmented-reality hardware
  • Pandemic layoffs: about 1,000 employees, roughly half the company, in April 2020 (TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg)
  • Last updated: 2026-11-01

In the archive

Founders, executives and investors

Rony Abovitz founded Magic Leap and was its chief executive in April 2020. UploadVR later reported that after the pandemic layoffs he was replaced as CEO. By October 2025 the chief executive was Ross Rosenberg, and Julie Larson-Green was chief technology officer at the time of the 2024 Google deal.

By 2020 Magic Leap had raised more than $2.6 billion from investors including Google, Alibaba and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which led TechCrunch to call it "one of the most well-capitalized consumer hardware startups ever."

Business before the pandemic

Magic Leap, based in Plantation, Florida, spent its early years presenting itself as a consumer device company. Late in 2019 it released the Magic Leap Enterprise Suite, a $3,000 package for business customers that put it alongside Microsoft's HoloLens. It also competed with Microsoft for a U.S. Army augmented-reality contract, which it did not win.

What the pandemic did to the business

On April 22, 2020, Magic Leap said it was backing away from consumer products. In a blog post Abovitz cited COVID-19 and wrote that the company had to "align our efforts to focus on the areas of our business that advance our technology, ensure delivery of Magic Leap 2, and expand product-market fit and revenue generation." Bloomberg reported that the company had been exploring a sale that could value it at $10 billion.

Pandemic-relief role

SBA's PPP loan data list no loan to a borrower named Magic Leap.

Layoffs

On April 22, 2020 Magic Leap also laid off what it called a "number of employees"; Bloomberg reported that about half the staff, roughly 1,000 people, were cut, and a spokesperson referred TechCrunch to the blog post and did not comment on the number. How Magic Leap handled layoffs →

After the first shock

Magic Leap 2 became the company's product: an optically transparent headset sold through resellers to enterprise and government users, according to UploadVR. On May 30, 2024, Magic Leap and Google announced a "multi-faceted, strategic technology partnership" combining Magic Leap's optics with Google's technology platforms. UploadVR reported on July 19, 2024 that Magic Leap was laying off staff a few months later; the company said it had "consolidated our frontline engagement to our developer support and care teams" and did not give a headcount.

Where the company is now

Magic Leap is a private company. On October 29, 2025, at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, it announced a move into AR-glasses development as a partner to device makers and a renewed partnership with Google. The two showed a prototype that pairs Magic Leap waveguides and optics with Google's Raxium microLED light engine and is a reference design for the Android XR ecosystem. "Magic Leap's evolution, from pioneering AR to becoming an ecosystem partner, represents the next phase of our vision," Rosenberg said.

Sources

Back to top