META Meta Platforms Inc

By Deepa Seetharaman 

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Facebook Inc.'s Oculus virtual-reality unit, confirmed Friday that he financially backed Nimble America, a pro-Donald Trump group that paid for advertising mocking Hillary Clinton.

Mr. Luckey, who in 2014 sold his company to Facebook for $2 billion, denied that he was a founder or employee of the group, which says on its website it supports "legal immigration" and "smart trade."

"I contributed $10,000 to Nimble America because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards," Mr. Luckey said in a statement on his Facebook page Friday.

Mr. Luckey's involvement with Nimble America was brought to light by a report from The Daily Beast published Thursday.

The news hit a nerve within the virtual-reality community, with many developers threatening to stop making games for Oculus. Some developers expressed disgust for the mission of Nimble America, which opened its doors in June and has a strong presence on the social news site Reddit Inc., where Mr. Luckey is also a frequent poster.

For the second time in recent months, Facebook has been in the spotlight for actions taken by people associated with the company. In May, billionaire Peter Thiel, a Facebook director and the co-founder of PayPal Inc., said he spent about $10 million to fund a secret legal campaign against Gawker Media that ultimately led to its bankruptcy.

Mr. Thiel is the most high-profile name in Silicon Valley to back Mr. Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, when Mr. Trump was named the GOP nominee.

Mr. Luckey said in the Facebook post that he was "deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners." Mr. Luckey also said his actions were his own and don't represent the views of Oculus.

The group says on its website it paid for a billboard outside of Pittsburgh which displays an image of Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, over the words "Too Big to Jail."

"I don't have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America," Mr. Luckey said on Facebook. He also said he was a libertarian and plans to vote for Gary Johnson in November's election.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2016 02:12 ET (06:12 GMT)

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