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Collin Furtado · · 3 min readJon Lee is back as Vizzio’s CEO
With additional reporting from Randy Mulyanto.
Jon Lee, founder of Singapore-based AI startup Vizzio Technologies, appears to have remained its CEO, as per the team page of the firm’s website.
It seemed that he had stepped down from the post last January after Vizzio appointed chief marketing officer David See as interim CEO. This followed Tech in Asia’s investigation that revealed Lee had lied about his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.
In addition, he admitted to Tech in Asia that he was also Dennis Lee, the former CTO of Singapore-based software firm Elipva, who was exposed by The Business Times 20 years ago for faking his credentials and awards.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
The exposé spotlighted the deceptive behavior within the startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia. Tech in Asia went on to uncover three other founders in the region with fake degrees, which led the tech community to question the due diligence process of investors and the extent to which they tolerate such behavior.
On LinkedIn, Lee’s account doesn’t reflect his role as CEO – it just mentions that he is the founder of Vizzio. See’s LinkedIn account, too, shows no change since his appointment as interim chief executive.
That said, Vizzio’s team page on its website was updated with new executives that joined the company in the last few months, indicating that it has been actively maintained.
This page has listed Lee as CEO since at least January this year, according to a snapshot captured by digital library website Internet Archive.
Meanwhile, Lee remains a shareholder and a board director of the startup, roles which he has held since 2019, a search on regulatory data platform Handshakes showed.
John Hui, COO and board member of Vizzio, did not respond to Tech in Asia’s multiple requests for comment regarding the matter.
Changes to board and management
Soon after Lee’s deception about his Ph.D. was discovered, Vizzio’s board issued a statement supporting the founder and pledging to continue Vizzio’s mission.
“We cannot, and will not, take his life’s work away from him, as he paid his dues some 23 years ago as a young man,” read the statement signed by Vizzio’s chairman, Abu Bakar Bin Mohd.
While the firm has since seen a couple of board members resign, it gained new ones.
Revenue question
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We also uncovered the credible names Vizzio brought on to renew its leadership, and asked the startup to explain differing revenue figures for one particular year.
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