Mozilla has appointed former marketing chief Chris Beard as its interim CEO replacing Brendan Eich, who resigned following the controversy that started from a 2008 political donation.
Mozilla has been considering Beard for months
Recently, Beard served as an executive-in-residence at venture capital firm Greylock Partners. Beard joined Mozilla in 2004 as the VP of products. Later, he was promoted to chief innovation officer and then became chief marketing officer. Beard left Mozilla in June 2013, but remained on as an advisor. According to an official blog post, Mozilla has been considering appointing Beard to the board months ago.
“I have relied on his judgement and advice for nearly a decade,” said executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker, in the post. The post also stated that Chris has a clearer vision of reaching the target set by the company and capitalizing on the activities and product ideas.
Former CEO Eich was the head of the organization for almost two weeks, but was criticized for supporting Proposition 8, the California bill that restricted gay marriage. The controversy forced him to resign.
Surrounded by controversies
A few weeks back, dating site OkCupid asked the users to stay away from Mozilla and its Firefox browser, and then banned the site for those using Firefox.
“We know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves,” said Baker, a few weeks back.
Eich posted a blog post where he wrote his beliefs and views, which were different from the company. On March 26th 2014, Eich said that he entirely believes that at Mozilla everyone, irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status or religion are treated equal.
Baker said that the company will emerge from the controversy with a better understanding and humility. Baker also stated that a large, global and diverse community at the company makes it distinguished.
