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Collin Furtado · · 4 min read

Vizzio’s plot twist: Jon Lee returns

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Hello reader,

I personally find boomerangs fascinating. The physics of it is so unique – it’s the only thing that returns to the person who threw it in the first place.

In my career in journalism there are very few times where a story of a company keeps coming back. One such story is that of Jon Lee, founder of Singapore AI startup Vizzio, who admitted to me and my colleagues in January 2024 that he had faked his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.

Our investigation into his career unravelled a checkered past. He was the CTO of another startup in the early 2000’s which was unearthed by The Business Times and was also accused of plagiarism, among other issues, at Vizzio.

Following our exposé, Vizzio appointed an interim CEO, and Lee stepped down.

But like a boomerang, Lee is back again as the CEO of Vizzio, and here I am writing about it in our top story for today. Besides this, we noticed some changes to the firm’s board members and that the company is bolstering its management team.

We also questioned the startup about some differing revenue figures that Lee previously shared with us for one particular year. Read the story below to find out the company’s response.

We also have the latest updates on the ongoing David vs. Goliath battle between design software firms Motiff and Figma. A US court has delayed a decision on a preliminary injunction motion filed by Figma in January that would have prevented Motiff from offering its product.

The court instead has set an expedited jury trial in August, which would provide a final verdict in a battle that began last year.

Collin Furtado, senior editor


Top Stories

1️⃣ Jon Lee is back as Vizzio’s CEO


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TIA Writer

Collin Furtado

Emerging tech editor at TIA who covers startup sectors as AI, EVs, climatetech, agritech, healthtech, and others. His work comprises of investigative stories, profiles, and visual/data pieces.