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As a firefox user it hurts to see this news, wait, isn't mozilla a non-profit organization?

• throwaway-blaze 3y ago
  They have a unique structure with a for-profit subsidiary that takes in the revenue and then disburses a portion back to the nonprofit. My understanding is that it's a similar structure as OpenAI now has.
  • zaphirplane 3y ago
    What does the for profit part do with the profits
    • robga 3y ago
      The non-profit owns the for-profit and thus any profit. The non-profit Mozilla Foundation has a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary Mozilla Corporation which makes Firefox. In theory, this opens up avenues for revenue generation since the for-profit can engage in activities beyond the goals of the non-profit. It also opens up avenues for revenue based compensation for employees. Non-profits have some legal “reasonableness” tests for compensation that for-profits do not. If the for-profit subsidiary starts raking in huge new revenue it can decide to distribute it to the employees rather than the parent non-profit. Non-profits come with administrative overheads so they may use a for profit subsidiary to remove those, in the hope of greater overall revenue for the non-profit. Despite these valid reasons, many feel that Mozilla has no good justification for it and the true beneficiaries of Mozilla Corporation’s status are their executives, not Mozilla Foundation. Non-profits can be “abused” without needing a subsidiary. Some spend 90% of revenue on expenses and administration and give little to a cause. It sounds egregious but may not always be. Imagine a couple with a non-profit that’s basically a well regarded website forum to promote understanding of a medical cause. The forum requires a lot of moderation due to trolls. It has revenues of $60k but distributes it all as salary to the two staff.