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.



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.
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.
The graceful Tom from MySpace exit.