Care to explain how would they get the money in the process you described? Selling privacy to Google or someone is the only money maker they have.

There is no reason to believe manager pay is even 10% of the total expense.

▲ maxrmk 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Google (currently) pays Mozilla $400-500 million a year to be the default search engine in firefox.

edit: in 2023 they took in $653M in total, $555M of which was from Google. They spent $260M on software development, and $236M on other things.

▲ ethbr1 6 days ago | parent [-]

The "other things" is what most people seem to have problem with.

Mozilla burns a batshit amount of money on feel good fancies.

If it were focused on its core mission -- building great software in key areas -- it would see it can't afford this, because that's the same money that if saved would make them financially independent of Google.

▲ pseudalopex 6 days ago | parent [-]

> Mozilla burns a batshit amount of money on feel good fancies.

How much?

▲ stock_toaster 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

  > In 2018, Baker received $2,458,350 in compensation from Mozilla.
  > In 2020, after returning to the position of CEO, Baker's salary was more than $3 million.
  > In 2021, her salary rose again to more than $5.5 million,
  > and again to over $6.9 million in 2022.
  >
  > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Baker#Mozilla_Foundation_and_Mozilla_Corporation

▲

pseudalopex 6 days ago | parent [-]

And what percent of revenue was this?

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ethbr1 6 days ago | parent [-]

0.55% in 2018, rising to 1.1% in 2022

	▲	pseudalopex 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		Saving 1.1% of revenue would make them financially independent of Google?

▲ vondur 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>$236M on other things This is from another poster. I'm guessing stuff not related to Firefox development.

▲

pseudalopex 6 days ago | parent [-]

$236M included facilities, administration, marketing, and so on.

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account42 5 days ago | parent [-]

Yes, they should trim most of that fat.

	▲	pseudalopex 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		How much is fat?

▲ mixmastamyk 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Mozilla took in the money from the distant past all the way into the present. They have leaned into privacy the whole time, while not being perfect.

At some point they ease off the google money or it goes away itself. And they move forward on privacy.

Google was less demanding in the past as well; they continue to give Apple billions each year.

There are a number of privacy-oriented business models, as listed here: https://aol.codeberg.page/eci/status.html - while not as lucrative as some, combined with an endowment its a good living that many companies would envy.