First reported by the Wall Street Journal, the rumor was later confirmed by a Google source who spoke to Reuters. Lee has since released a statement announcing his resignation to start his own venture.
"With a very strong leadership team in place, it seemed a very good moment for me to move to the next chapter in my career," Lee said in a statement, according to CNet News.
Two Google executives, Boon-Lock Yeo and John Liu, will replace the former employee. WSJ reports that Yeo, currently serving as director of Google's Shanghai engineering office, will run engineering for Google China, while Liu will take on Yeo's business and operational responsibilities.
Read more on the Wall Street Journal.