Earlier quoted context omitted.
Shareholders? It’s a non-profit.
Great financial packages for a non-profit
Could it be that their financial packages is part of what makes it such an effective operation?
Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
71–80 of 417 posts
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#72Why can't the Wikimedia projects just be forked by some more normal people?
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Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#73It looks like the CEO of Wikimedia gets paid roughly as much as a Staff/Senior Staff-level FAANG engineer. That looks about right. And they got 6 months severance. Also comparable. I don't get why people are upset. Somehow everyone working for a nonprofit should bring home less money to their families. In truth what that assumption would mean is that nonprofits get less skilled people.
18 months' severance.
US$623,286 when their last full year's base compensation was $400K.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikim...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikim...
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#74It looks like the CEO of Wikimedia gets paid roughly as much as a Staff/Senior Staff-level FAANG engineer. That looks about right. And they got 6 months severance. Also comparable. I don't get why people are upset. Somehow everyone working for a nonprofit should bring home less money to their families. In truth what that assumption would mean is that nonprofits get less skilled people.
Were they fired or did they quit because they got a better job? Do people usually get a severance in the latter case?
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
The actual Internet hosting costs have consistently been less than $3 million a year: 2022/2021: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/26/Wikim... 2020/2019: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikim... And they were the same a decade ago: 2012/2011: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/0/09/FINAL... Admittedly, this doesn't include salaries.
What about development costs ?
You mean for software features and the like? Some good work has been done there in the background – it's not stuff that readers would notice, but contributors do. It wouldn't be fair to say that all the money has been mis-spent – there are lots of people working at the Foundation who are doing good work and who are not getting rich – especially bearing in mind the cost of living in parts of the US (though this begs the question whether the work could not be done more cost-effectively elsewhere).
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#76To put into perspective: the Wikimedia Foundation manages one of humanity’s greatest achievements. I thought it was an open secret that they’re pretty flush with cash overall despite the constant nag for justadollar’. I dunno, maybe I’ve been desensitised but these numbers are not horribly shocking to me, and when put in the context of the immense value the project brings to the rest of the world… I mean come on, loo…
"Con artists" might be a strong term, but honestly I can't blame people for being upset. Obviously Wikipedia is a pretty useful tool, I don't think anyone disputes that, but I think people can be forgiven to think that half-page-sized banners begging for money indicates that they're strapped for cash. They will have messages like "If everyone reading this right now gave a buck then this donation drive would be finish…
I see your point, but let me counterpoint. Anybody with any financial sense should save their money and not spend it as soon as they get it. This is to prepare for the drought years. Could this be something like that?
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Con artists" might be a strong term, but honestly I can't blame people for being upset. Obviously Wikipedia is a pretty useful tool, I don't think anyone disputes that, but I think people can be forgiven to think that half-page-sized banners begging for money indicates that they're strapped for cash. They will have messages like "If everyone reading this right now gave a buck then this donation drive would be finish…
I see your point, but let me counterpoint. Anybody with any financial sense should save their money and not spend it as soon as they get it. This is to prepare for the drought years. Could this be something like that?
Forgive me, I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to say. You're saying that by giving a large severance to people no longer affiliated with the company, it's a form of saving money?
I'm not trying to straw-man, I'm genuinely not sure what I'm responding to.
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t understand. What job could someone take after leaving that post that you think would be neutral? Work for google? Become a bricklayer?
I can think of very few jobs less neutral than Atlantic Council and U.S. Department of State. You don’t get invited to those boards without prior connections to some of the least neutral people on the planet.
Sometimes the most effective heads of large organizations are effective because of their connections, especially when many of the issues they will deal with involve countries threatening the organization with censorship, control, and takedown issues.
Wikipedia has a much more admirable history in this regard than the major for profit online companies.
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can think of very few jobs less neutral than Atlantic Council and U.S. Department of State. You don’t get invited to those boards without prior connections to some of the least neutral people on the planet.
Sometimes the most effective heads of large organizations are effective because of their connections, especially when many of the issues they will deal with involve countries threatening the organization with censorship, control, and takedown issues. Wikipedia has a much more admirable history in this regard than the major for profit online companies.
Those same connections ask for favors which is how they undermine neutrality. These is a reason revolving doors are bad.
Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t understand. What job could someone take after leaving that post that you think would be neutral? Work for google? Become a bricklayer?
I can think of very few jobs less neutral than Atlantic Council and U.S. Department of State. You don’t get invited to those boards without prior connections to some of the least neutral people on the planet.
>I can think of very few jobs less neutral than Atlantic Council and U.S. Department of State.
What about any senior exec position at Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, or Microsoft? I hope you don't believe those organizations are 'neutral' either.