Today I want to say thank you to Reid Hoffman for 11 years as a Mozilla Corporation board member. Reid’s normal “tour of duty” on a board is much shorter. Reid joined Mozilla as an expression of his commitment to the Open Internet and the Mozilla mission, and he’s demonstrated that regularly. Almost five years ago I asked Reid if he would remain on the Mozilla board even though he had already been a member for six years. Reid agreed. When Chris Beard joined us Reid agreed to serve another two years in order to help Chris get settled and prime Mozilla for the new era.
Mozilla is in a radically better place today than we were two, three, or five years ago, and is poised for a next phase of growth and influence. Take a look at the Annual Report we published Dec 1, 2016 to get a picture of our financial and operational health. Or look at The Glass Room, or our first Internet Health Report, or the successful launch of Firefox Focus (or Walt Mossberg’s article about Mozilla) to see what we’ve done the last few months.
And so after an extended “tour of duty” Reid is leaving the Mozilla Corporation board and becoming an Emeritus board member. He remains a close friend and champion of Mozilla and the Open Internet. He continues to help identify technologists, entrepreneurs, and allies who would be a good fit to join Mozilla, including at the board level. He also continues to meet with and provide support to our key executives.
A heartfelt thank you to Reid.