OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman ousted

OnLive's bankruptcy and acquisiton has claimed a surprising victim - CEO and founder Steve Perlman.

In a press release, the newly re-formed OnLive announced that COO Charlie Jablonski will serve as acting CEO in the wake of Perlman's departure "to work on his myriad of other projects". Gary Lauder, the chief investor behind the acquisition, will become the company's chairman.

"I spent my first week with OnLive listening, to gather people’s thoughts and suggestions. It’s an impressive group, and I am even more convinced that this company is poised for greatness," Lauder said.

This last comment is particularly interesting as VentureBeat reports disgruntled OnLive employees weren't happy about continuing to work under Perlman.

Their reluctance to do so may be related to the nature of OnLive's acquisition; the company filed for a kind of bankruptcy on August 17, meaning staff were laid off without severance or notice, and lost their equity. Lauder then picked up the company's assets on the cheap, and the re-formed OnLive almost immediately expressed its desire to re-hire the core staff.

Prior to its acquisition, OnLive was externally funded, and chalked up an impressive debt despite Perlman's non-stop hustling. Taking a break from that will probably come as something of a relief.