Mozilla Names Former CMO as Interim CEO

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By Seth Fiegerman2014-04-14 21:33:21 UTC

Mozilla announced Monday that it appointed Chris Beard, a longtime company insider, to serve as interim CEO.

The appointment comes a week and a half after Brendan Eich stepped down as CEO amid widespread criticism of a donation he made in 2008 to Proposition 8, an initiative that aimed to ban same-sex marriage in California.

See also: OkCupid 'Satisfied' With News of Mozilla CEO's Resignation

Beard led Mozilla's product management in the early days, and later served as chief marketing officer from 2004 to mid-2013. After that, he joined Greylock Partners as an executive in residence.

"We intend to use recent events as a catalyst to develop and expand Mozilla’s leadership," Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman at Mozilla, wrote in a blog post announcing the appointment. "Appointing Chris as our interim CEO is a first step in this process. Next steps include a long-term plan for the CEO role, adding board members who can help Mozilla succeed and continuing our efforts to actively support each Mozillian to reach his or her full potential as a leader."

Eich's departure occurred after more than a week of scrutiny, during which Mozilla employees publicly urged him to resign, and OkCupid put up a notice urging anyone using Firefox to switch browsers because of Eich's views on gay marriage.

Mozilla later claimed Eich was not fired nor was he pressured by the board to resign. Instead, he "voluntarily submitted" his resignation.

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Topics: Business, Jobs, mozilla