Ramin Talaie: Corbis via Getty Images
- 4chan founder Chris Poole has left Google after five years and several job changes, reports CNBC.
- Poole launched 4chan in 2003. The controversial forum became infamous for hosting hackers and sharing explicit images.
- Poole sold 4chan to internet entrepreneur Hiroyuki Nishimura in 2016 for an undisclosed amount.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Chris Poole, the founder of controversial online forum 4chan, has left Google after five years, reported CNBC.
Poole joined in 2016 as a product manager under VP Bradley Horowitz in the photos and streams team, leading to speculation he had been hired to drive Google's social media plans.
He moved around the company several times in his five years. In June 2016, Google confirmed with Insider that Poole was a partner at its in-house startup incubator, Area 120. In 2018, he became a product manager for Google Maps, according to Crunchbase.
His last day was April 13, per an internal document viewed by CNBC.
Poole resigned as sole administrator of 4chan in January 2015 and sold it to Japanese internet entrepreneur Hiroyuki Nishimura for an unknown price.
He set up the controversial site in 2003 when he was just 15 years old to share anime pictures. As it grew, the forum became notorious for hosting hackers and harassing marginalized groups.
In 2014, 4chan users downloaded and shared at least 100,000 hacked Snapchat images, including underage nude photos.
Poole did not respond to requests for comment from CNBC.