Siri Co-Founder Dag Kittlaus Leaves Apple

MacRumors · Oct 24, 2011

AllThingsD reports that Siri co-founder Dag Kittlaus has left his position at Apple, moving on following the rebirth of the voice-powered personal assistant as a key feature of the iPhone 4S.

There were several reasons for the departure, which was amicable and has been planned for a while, sources said. They included Kittlaus' family being in Chicago, a desire to take time off and an interest in brainstorming new entrepreneurial ideas.

The report claims that Kittlaus left Apple just after the iPhone 4S launch but that his departure is not indicative of a mass exodus of the Siri team, as other key former Siri executives are remaining at Apple.

Article Link: Siri Co-Founder Dag Kittlaus Leaves Apple

soco · Oct 24, 2011

Hm, stayed around for the payoff and to make sure things went as planned, then out to work on what's next?

aikomhoch · Oct 24, 2011

Thanks for the tech and enjoy the payday!

thewitt · Oct 24, 2011

Considering Apple bought Siri for 800,000,000 this guy can probably go do about anything he wants...

mdriftmeyer · Oct 24, 2011

Well he was around for well over a year and a half. And no, they still have not disclosed the amount paid for Siri that I've found.

Widashy · Oct 24, 2011

Hope this won't affect future development of Siri...

applesith · Oct 24, 2011

Mr. Pink said:
Hm, stayed around for the payoff and to make sure things went as planned, then out to work on what's next?

He's the co-founder, so he should have the payoff and see that Siri gets off to a good start before leaving.

brookshanes · Oct 24, 2011

This is what

Mr. Pink said:
Hm, stayed around for the payoff and to make sure things went as planned, then out to work on what's next?

Thankfully his family means something to him. He should spend time with them because he probably never saw them when he was co-founding and selling Siri.

//EDIT: Wow, -2 for me saying he should be with his own family???

//EDIT part deux: Thanks for the upticks! Some family men and women out there after all!

aliensporebomb · Oct 24, 2011

Ah

"When last heard from, Kittlaus indicated he was going to spend the next three weeks rolling around on a big pile of money."

Good luck Dag!

GoCubsGo · Oct 24, 2011

Siri doesn't seem to understand who Dag Kittlaus is so I guess out of sight, out of mind!

rdowns · Oct 24, 2011

thewitt said:
Considering Apple bought Siri for 800,000,000 this guy can probably go do about anything he wants...

Where do you pull that number from?

hexor · Oct 24, 2011

I would not be surprised to find him show up next at Google.

thewitt · Oct 24, 2011

rdowns said:
Where do you pull that number from?

Ah, wrong acquisition. Sorry.

Techcrunch reported 200,000,000+ not 800,000,000

scott911 · Oct 24, 2011

thewitt said:
Ah, wrong acquisition. Sorry.

Techcrunch reported 200,000,000+ not 800,000,000

no worries - I find it difficult to see much difference between either of those numbers!

Unless you're buying small countries, then maybe the extra cash would be useful

Diode · Oct 24, 2011

hexor said:
I would not be surprised to find him show up next at Google.

Ehh, people like this enjoy the start-up phase. He will prob take some time off, start something else, rinse and repeat.

cvaldes · Oct 24, 2011

brookshanes said:
Thankfully his family means something to him. He should spend time with them because he probably never saw them when he was co-founding and selling Siri.

//EDIT: Wow, -2 for me saying he should be with his own family???

Sensible commentary is not popular in this forum. You're lucky that a few munificent souls (including me) gave you plusses.

Welcome to MacRumors!

brookshanes · Oct 24, 2011

cvaldes said:
Sensible commentary is not popular in this forum. You're lucky that a few munificent souls (including me) gave you plusses.

Welcome to MacRumors!

Thanks for the upticks!

iforget · Oct 24, 2011

Siri, why did you co-founder leave Apple?

NAG · Oct 24, 2011

All the best to him and I hope whatever he does next is just as innovative.

ArtOfWarfare · Oct 24, 2011

Diode said:
Ehh, people like this enjoy the start-up phase. He will prob take some time off, start something else, rinse and repeat.

My understanding was that working at Apple had the feel of a perpetual startup company.

Gasu E. · Oct 24, 2011

brookshanes said:
//EDIT: Wow, -2 for me saying he should be with his own family???

I just gave you a "-1" for caring what other random people think.

MovieCutter · Oct 24, 2011

brookshanes said:
//EDIT: Wow, -2 for me saying he should be with his own family???

//EDIT part deux: Thanks for the upticks! Some family men and women out there after all!

People pay attention to that crap???

CFreymarc · Oct 24, 2011

Mr. Pink said:
Hm, stayed around for the payoff and to make sure things went as planned, then out to work on what's next?

Yes very well planned. He is riding the wave of the guy that made voice recognition workable after almost forty years of attempts. My guess is he'll get picked up by a competitor, make a non-infringing voice rec technology with the core engineers he worked with and double-dip to cash in. Have a good vacation first!

Prototypical · Oct 24, 2011

thewitt said:
Ah, wrong acquisition. Sorry.

Techcrunch reported 200,000,000+ not 800,000,000

Man, only $100M for him instead of $400M? What a ripoff!

BC2009 · Oct 24, 2011

This is a quite common post-acquisition occurrence for incoming executives. They are required to remain for a period in order to obtain some payoff and once they obtain it, they move on to the next venture they want to start.

Siri Co-Founder Dag Kittlaus Leaves Apple

macrumors bot

macrumors 68030

macrumors member

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68040

macrumors regular

macrumors 68030

macrumors member

macrumors 68000

macrumors Nehalem

macrumors Penryn

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68020

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68040

macrumors member

macrumors newbie

macrumors 68030

macrumors G3

macrumors 603

macrumors 68040

Suspended

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68020

Our Staff