Eugen Rochko, CEO and founder of decentralized social network Mastodon, is stepping down after nearly a decade at the helm and walking away with a sizable exit payment.

“Mastodon grew beyond any of my expectations,” he said. “The past two years especially have been overwhelming, and my mental and physical health have taken a dip.”

Rochko’s move has, by his own admission, been a while coming. In April 2024, the establishment of a US nonprofit was announced with a governing board of directors that included Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Rochko also announced that his ownership of the trademark and other assets were headed to the nonprofit.

  • unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 hours ago

    Idk man and i dont care. He probably couldve chosen to be a greedy asshole and sell to some big tech company for 100M but instead he took enough to buy a house and live in peace.

    • Gamma@beehaw.org
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      5 hours ago

      Good on you for replying like that. Behavior like this drives people out of open source, people are too easily outraged whenever money is mentioned.