I don't believe that this was faked excuse. It is grueling to work in Chinese startup. In one of the articles about Xioami, he had a meeting in evening then flew out for a business meeting tomorrow morning, which means red-eye for him. This is not unheard in China. Work-life balance doesn't exist. US executives can't keep up with this demanding nature in Chinese work culture. But Hugo seems to leave in good terms. His hiring and Xiaomi's well-received exposure to other markets in China coincided so it benefited both, company and him.