Yuga Labs Co-founder will be taking a leave of absence due to poor health
Wylie Aronow, Yuga Labs co-founder, recently announced that he would be taking a leave of absence from the company for health reasons.
Leave of absence due to health reasons
Wylie Aronow made a public announcement on his official Twitter account, asserting his confidence in Yuga Labs’ future and Greg Solano’s leadership. In the tweet, Aronow, known by his pseudonym as Gordon Goner, said that he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure by his doctor.
Gordon Goner wrote, “Symptoms started last year out of the blue, and I put off seeking help (like an idiot), so I could keep working. But after testing, my doctor called and asked me to change my life radically.”
Aronow will be stepping down from his leadership roles to focus on his health but will retain his strategic advisor and board member position.
Account of Aronow’s health
Gordon Goner gave an account of his health by stating the development of his condition by first having mild symptoms, such as the stairs winding him, but he ignored it. The condition progressed so fast that he could not travel, walk, play with his dog, or live a normal life.
Aronow has dedicated his life to developing Yuga Labs since he lost his twenties fighting a chronic illness. He wishes he had taken balance more seriously in the past, having worked 12+ hours each day in Yuga Labs and nearly forgetting to take care of his health. His main goal now is to get the best medical treatment possible and heal in the comfort of his home.
The Yuga Labs community expressed their support for the co-founder through a tweet, stating that the official has the “full support of the whole Yuga family as he embarks on his journey to get back to health.”
The future of Yuga Labs
Besides the health news, Wylie Aronow announced that Daniel Alegre’s move to join the company adds to Yuga’s great future. The official also celebrated what the Yuga family has in store for 2023. He states that only several people know the extent of what the Yuga community has achieved and that he’s proud of every achievement and believes that Yuga’s impact on Web3 has just begun.
Yuga Labs rose to public recognition after Aronov launched the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) on April 2021. The project was a collaboration between co-founders Kerem (Tomato Ketchup), Greg Solano (Gargamel), and Zeshan (Sass). An overnight success, BAYC quickly saw an increase in the collection’s NFT prices from about $190 to more than $100,000 on secondary markets.
The company grew even larger after it announced the completion of its $450 million funding round, amounting to its valuation at $4 billion. The funding round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, a Silicon Valley investor.
The Yuga Lab team has been hard at work since the closing fund to live up to its mission, ‘shaping the future of Web3 through storytelling, experiences, and community.’ The company has also released an interactive NFT minting, and gaming experience called the Dookey Dash on January 18.
