Well, maybe the VP has a point. A "bloated" Wikimedia organization is probably at least more resistant to hostile takeover / being sued into oblivion / swamped

Well, maybe the VP has a point. A "bloated" Wikimedia organization is probably at least more resistant to hostile takeover / being sued into oblivion / swamped by some sort of crisis than a shoestring one. The more people derive money and social status from running an independent Wikipedia, the more collective incentive there is to maintain the status quo, as opposed to accepting some juicy offer from Google which we'd all hate.