RJ
Staff Writer
Brendan Eich, the co-founder of the for-profit Mozilla Corporation, who has recently been in the news, has resigned as its CEO and also from the board of the non-profit foundation that wholly owns it. Eich has been controversy’s child as a consequence of his support for California’s anti-gay marriage law, Propositon 8. He had made a $1,000 donation in support of the ballot measure to ban gay marriage, back in 2008.
Mozilla confirmed this recent change in a blog post.
“Mozilla prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it. We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves.”
The post also added, “We didn’t act like you’d expect Mozilla to act. We didn’t move fast enough to engage with people once the controversy started. We’re sorry. We must do better.”
Eich stated in several interviews, earlier this week, that he wasn’t willing to step down from his post, which he had recently been appointed to, following the controversy he was in the middle of. Just yesterday, he told the Guardian, “I don’t want to talk about my personal beliefs because I kept them out of Mozilla all these 15 years we’ve been going.”
However, Mozilla’s Executive Chairwoman, Mitchell Baker, evidently begs to differ. “It’s clear that Brendan cannot lead Mozilla in this setting,” she said in an interview. “The ability to lead — particularly for the CEO — is fundamental to the role and that is not possible here.” She also added later that the decision to resign was solely Eich’s, and he was not forced to resign by her or any of her colleagues.
The controversy has been hard on Mozilla, which is much more than just a tech company. It has led to the company being constantly scrutinized by the public. This includes vocal protests by Mozilla’s own staffers and a call by the OkCupid dating site, urging people not to use Mozilla. Thus, an emotional Baker, also said, “This is hard since Brendan is a founder and has contributed so much here. But making sure others continue to join and support Mozilla’s efforts is even more important.”
As of now, there is no leading candidate running for CEO and there is no clear replacement for Eich.
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