Proton, known for its encrypted email service, transitions to a non-profit structure to ensure it can continue to fulfill its mission in the future
Proton, known for its encrypted email service Proton Mail and cloud storage service Proton Drive, has announced that it will transition to a non-profit foundation model to continue fulfilling its mission for the next decade and beyond.
Proton is transitioning towards a non-profit structure | Proton
The Proton Foundation | Proton
Proton is taking its privacy-first apps to a nonprofit foundation model | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/proton-is-taking-its-privacy-first-apps-to-a-nonprofit-foundation-model/
Proton was founded in 2014 by scientists from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). One of its defining features is that it has never been led by 'profit maximisers', and it has a strong belief that 'people should come before profits'.
Building an internet that puts people first | Proton
https://proton.me/about/impact
As Proton celebrates its 10th anniversary, founder and CEO Andy Yen, along with co-founder Jason Stockman and first employee Dingchao Lu, have made a stock donation to the non-profit Proton Foundation to ensure the company continues to serve the community faithfully into the next decade and beyond.
This means that Proton Foundation will become Proton's majority shareholder, allowing the company to remain an 'organization that puts people over profits' in perpetuity.
While acknowledging that Proton, which has never been a non-profit organization, has been able to pursue its beliefs without being hindered, Yen argues that a non-profit organization defined by Swiss law has no shareholders and is therefore not dependent on the goodwill of any particular individual or group. Instead, a non-profit organization is legally obligated to act in accordance with the purpose for which it was established, ensuring that Proton's mission is protected. It also ensures that Proton's mission is adhered to by preventing a hostile takeover.
The service itself will continue to be provided by Proton AG, a Swiss for-profit company overseen by the Proton Foundation.
'While our hybrid model approach is unique, we believe it offers the best of worlds. For example, Proton AG can issue stock options to attract talent, and we can also raise capital if we need the resources to win future battles. However, the stewardship of the Proton Foundation ensures that Proton AG always acts in a way that does not jeopardize its mission, and that Proton AG's financial success is directly linked to the public interest. We aim to maintain Proton's values, as well as its innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, ambitious corporate culture and competitive spirit,' said Yen.
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in Software, Web Service, Posted by logc_nt