Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
Firefox Money: Investigating the bizarre finances of Mozilla
Payments to nonexistent companies? Funding politics? Reliance on a single customer? And that's just for starters.
August 05, 2023
post photo preview

This article was originally published in December of 2022, exclusively for subscribers to The Lunduke Journal.  It is being re-published now -- free for all -- as the importance of this topic (and the bizarre questions surrounding Mozilla) continues to grow.


Mozilla, the Foundation behind the Firefox web browser, is absolutely mammoth — with over One Billion Dollars in assets.

  • Where does all that money come from?

  • Where is it being spent?

  • With Firefox marketshare in a nosedive, how is Mozilla reacting?

The Lunduke Journal spent some time with Mozilla’s financial disclosures and came away with some wild observations — bizarre expenditures (including to companies that don’t even seem to exist) and political organizations with no relationship to Mozilla’s core business.

There’s a lot here. Read to the end. It gets wild.

What, exactly, is Mozilla?

There seems to be a great deal of confusion about what sort of organization Mozilla actually is. Many seem to be under the impression that it is simply a Non-Profit focused on the development of Firefox. And, while that is partially true, it is only a small part of the much bigger picture.

At the top exists the Mozilla Foundation. A not-for-profit corporation that operates out of California.

The Mozilla Foundation is the sole owner (100%) of two for-profit corporations: Mozilla Corporation and MZLA Technologies Corporation.

Both the parent “Foundation” and the wholly owned “Corporation” are run by the same CEO and Executive Chair: Mitchell Baker.

In fact, the “not-for-profit” and “for-profit” aspects of Mozilla are so tightly intertwined that the auditors report makes a point of calling the collective group of three organizations simply “Mozilla”… and reports on their finances as a single entity.

One other misconception that many have is that Mozilla’s primary focus is the development of the Firefox web browser. That does not appear to be the case. These are the three “Areas of Focus” according to The Mozilla Foundation.

 

Rally Citizens. Connect Leaders. Shape the Agenda.

A strange set of areas to focus on, as you’ll see.

One other item to remember as we go through these details: Firefox market share has been in a free-fall for some time. Depending on the source, it fluctuates between 3% and 7% of the total web browser market.

How much money does Mozilla have?

As of 2021, Mozilla (including the Foundation and the wholly owned For-Profit Corporations), had total assets worth over $1.1 Billion USD. That’s Billion. With a B.

 

This includes close to $400 Million in cash. Overall assets jumped by roughly $200 Million over the previous year.

As you would expect with such numbers, Mozilla saw a significant increase in revenue in 2021. Up over $100 Million (to just over $600 Million).

 

At the same time as total revenue was skyrocketing, overall expenses went way (way) down. By roughly $100 Million. With the deepest cuts being focused in “Software development”.

 

To put it another way: If Mozilla stopped earning money today… it has enough assets to fund their current expenses for roughly 3 years. Thanks in large part to rising revenue combined with cutting software development work.

Where does that money come from?

If you look at the “Change in Net Assets” chart above, you’ll notice that the vast majority of revenue comes from “Royalties” ($527 Million), with advertising and subscriptions ($56 Million) and Contributions ($7 Million) as the next two largest line items.

“Contributions” is donations from people like you. Mozilla actively seeks donations because, as they put it, “We rely on donations to carry out our mission.”

 

It is worth noting that this statement is not true.

Mozilla does not, in fact, “rely on donations” to carry out their mission. In fact, if you removed donations from the yearly revenue entirely, it would have no impact on Mozilla’s ability to pay for any of their expenditures. And Mozilla could not pay more than a small fraction of their bills from the yearly donations.

Since “Royalties” makes up such a large percentage of Mozilla revenue, let’s drill into that a little bit. Royalties for what, exactly? According to the Foundation’s 2021 report:

“Royalties - Mozilla provides Firefox web browser, which is a free and open-source web browser initially developed by Mozilla Foundation and the Corporation. Mozilla incorporates search engines of its customers as a default status or an optional status available in the Firefox web browser. Mozilla generally receives royalties at a certain percentage of revenues earned by its customers through their search engines incorporated in the Firefox web browser.”

Got it. Search engine deals. That’s the cash cow. And, while the annual report is light on the details, it does provide this key bit of information…

“Approximately 83% and 86% of Mozilla’s revenues from customers with contracts were derived from one customer for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Receivables from that one customer represented 69% and 73% of the December 31, 2021 and 2020 outstanding receivables, respectively.”

In other words: The vast majority (roughly 70%) of all of Mozilla’s yearly revenue comes from default search engine placement of just one customer.

That customer, while not named in the report, is obviously Google (and parent company, Alphabet).

Without that revenue, Mozilla could not continue to operate at their current level of expenditure without eating into their assets.

How much does their leadership earn?

While we’re on the topic of expenditures, it’s worth taking a small detour into the compensation of the Mozilla leadership. From the Mozilla Foundation’s 2021 Form 990:

 

The head of Mozilla earned roughly $5.6 Million during 2021. The rest of the executive team ranged, more or less, from $100k to $300k.

Interesting to note that the Mozilla CEO earned nearly as much ($5.6 M) as Mozilla received in donations ($7 M).

Also interesting that the CEO received a bonus of nearly $5 Million… considering the precarious position that Mozilla is in (being dependent on a single client continuing to pay for Search Engine placement). Unless there’s a secret deal going on, that looks like a company teetering on the edge to me. Strange to reward a CEO for that sort of future uncertainty.

Where, exactly, does all that money go?

Mozilla is a Billion dollar corporation. While their flagship product is the Firefox Web Browser, the software development needs of Firefox — including manpower, services, and other expenses — do not fully utilize the massive revenue of Mozilla.

Not by a long shot.

Which begs the question… what is all of that money being spent on?

Here is a short sampling, based on available public documentation, of exactly how much money is being spent… and where.

MCKENSIE MACK GROUP

 

During 2021, Mozilla paid $387 Thousand dollars to someone called “MCKENSIE MACK GROUP.”

“[Mckensie Mack Group] is a change management firm redefining innovation in the white-dominant change management industry.”

From their LinkedIn page, Mckensie Mack Group describes itself thusly: “Black-led and nonbinary-led, MMG is a global social justice organization”.

Mckensie Mack is a public speaker who regularly discusses her anger at “White Colonialism” and her dislike of “CIS” men and women. The “Mckensie Mack” company website blog primarily discusses abortion and Trans related issues.

Why would a company that develops a web browser want to pay her close to half a million dollars (in one year)? That remains unclear. It is, however, worth noting that this is a far larger expense than any of the executive team of Mozilla earn in salary (other than the CEO).

ACTION RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE

 

$100,000 was paid to an organization listed as “Action Research Collaborative.”

What, exactly, is “Action Research Collaborative”?

That is a surprisingly difficult question to find an answer to, as they have no website whatsoever.

One of the few references to it is in a Cornell newsletter from earlier this year, where one of the founders states that Action Research Collaborative is a “standing institutional home that can support action research projects that bring together researchers, community members and policymakers, to be able to work together and address pressing issues as they arise.”

Which… doesn’t really tell you much of anything. No product or project. No client. No website. Nothing.

That founder, Neil Lewis Jr., appears to have focused his career on “vaccine acceptance”, problems with “white” people, and his theory that “white people” can not be victims of discrimination.

What does this “Action Research Collaborative” actually do? Why would Mozilla need their services and be willing to pay $100,000 for it?

That remains entirely unknown.

While The Lunduke Journal does not like to delve too deeply into the Political Woods (tm), it should be questioned why so much money — possibly millions of dollars donated by individuals who thought they were supporting a web browser — is being funneled into highly political organizations that seem to have no involvement with the World Wide Web, Web Browsers, or any related standards.

Weird Discretionary Spending

 

$30,000 to “MC Technical Inc.” in 2021. Who are they? Well, they don’t have a website, that’s for sure. The business registry listing is about the only thing of the company that seems to exist. The listed address is someone’s house.

How does a mostly-non-existent company, with no online presence at all (no website, social media, reviews, etc.), get paid $30,000 in “discretionary” money from Mozilla?

That’s just straight up weird.

 

And then there’s the $375,000 in discretionary spending given to “New Venture Fund.”

According to Influence Watch:

“The New Venture Fund (NVF) is a 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit that makes grants to left-of-center advocacy and organizing projects and provides incubation services for other left-of-center organizations. The fund focuses primarily on social and environmental change.”

Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, gave $375,000 to a “Fund” that specifically exists to provide money and services for political organizations of one particular “alignment”.

Why? In what way does this help Firefox? Or Firefox users?

So many questions…

The deeper we dig into Mozilla and their financials, the more questions come up.

  1. Why does Mozilla give so much money to political speakers that have no relationship to their core business?

  2. Why does Mozilla seem unconcerned with alienating a large portion of their user base (which is already shrinking)?

  3. Why do some of the recipients of Mozilla money appear to be nothing more than empty shells of companies — not even having a simple website?

  4. Why does Mozilla continue to take donations if it doesn’t need them?

  5. Where does Mozilla spend those donated dollars? Do they go to the strange discretionary spending or political organizations?

  6. With the 70%+ reliance on Google (a competitor) for revenue, why is Mozilla spending money on projects that have no goal of being profitable (and have no relation to their core business)?

  7. What happens when the Google funding goes away? Mozilla appears certain that it never will (based on their spending)…. why is that?

  8. Why is Mozilla decreasing software development funding when development of Firefox is the cash cow?

And that is, literally, the tip of the iceberg.

The Lunduke Journal has sent out numerous questions and requests for comment to organizations listed here (among many others) to find answers. Will any be forthcoming? It will be interesting to see.


August 5th, 2023 Update: To date, no request for clarification or additional details has been answered.

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
13
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
Pokemon Go, the Surveillance Game Financed by the CIA, now Owned by Saudi Arabia

Pokemon Go has been 3D mapping your homes for years, and now it is owned by the Wife-Beating, Jeff Bezos Hacking, Journalist Murdering Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

00:15:55
Is Woke-ism Being Weaponized to Destroy Free & Open Source Software?

Let's take a look at the theory that Big Tech & Activists are attempting to destroy Open Source with Woke & DEl ideology.

00:29:21
Legends of Open Source Under Attack by Leftist Extremists

The most prominent leaders in Free and Open Source Software (from Stallman to Torvalds) are regularly attacked, ostracized, or outright banned by Leftist Extremists.

00:14:06
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

I just received a report, from someone within GNOME, that there is a "Sustained pornographic spam attack on GNOME infrastructure" happening (supposedly using a tremendous amount of vulgarity), with whoever is doing it repeatedly using my name.

I have not seen any screenshots or other evidence that this is actually occurring -- but, in case it is, I want to make a simple statement:

1) I cannot imagine that any long-time fan of mine would be involved in a "pornographic spam attack". Shoot. We don't even allow swearing at The Lunduke Journal.

2) As such, my first inclination is that any such "pornographic spam attack" would be perpetrated by someone who is not a fan of mine. Any usage of my name in such a thing would seem, more likely than not, to be an attempt to make me look bad somehow.

3) That this is occurring immediately following me needing to cancel a public speaking engagement at SXSW due to death threats... seems peculiar.

4) Regardless of who is doing this ...

OpenMandriva success on HP EliteDesk 705 G4

I wrote earlier about my new old cheap ($60) mini PC:
AMD PRO A10-9700E R7
8GB RAM
AMD Radeon R7
256 SSD

Ubuntu install crashed twice, OpenMandriva stopped during install using Ventoy, Kubuntu worked but I only got 1920x1080 resolution. Later I replaced my cheap DP to HDMI converter to a DP 1.4 to HDMI 4K and then I could run up to 4096 horizonally. I could only get 30Hz but it was surprisingly good.

Someone mentioned that the latest builds of OpenMandriva solved the Ventoy problem. So I tried last night:
First I tried installing it as a dual boot with Kubuntu. It crashed during creating the partition. Booted and tried again and then it said there were no partitions available. Booted again and I suddenly had the various choices of dual boot, erase disk etc. I thought screw it and chose erase disk even though I just had spent time setting up Kubuntu. Partitioning worked and then it crashed during the "filling the file system" (or something ...

March 14, 2025
February 24, 2025
post photo preview
12% of Tech Workers Believe macOS is Based on Linux
Over 70% believe in at least one common Myth of Computer History.

The following data was derived from the 2025 Tech Industry Demographic Survey, which included over 12,000 respondents -- from across companies and organizations throughout the Tech Industry -- surveyed during February of 2025.

 

Ready to have your mind blown?

According to those surveyed:

  • Nearly 12% believe that macOS is based on Linux.
  • Over 70% believe in at least one common Myth of Computer History.
  • The most commonly believed myth (at 52%) is the myth that "the first computer bug was a real bug (a moth)".

 

Those who took the survey were presented with 6 common (but debunked) computer history myths... and were asked to select the myths which they believed to be true and factual historical statements.

Here is the breakdown of how many believed in each myth.

 

 

One rather fascinating piece of data: Those percentages held steady for nearly every demographic group within the survey.

For example:

Roughly 12% of respondents who prefer Linux, believe macOS is based on Linux.  The same was true of Windows users, C / C++ programmers, and those who perfer the Firefox Web Browser... no matter what sub-group was looked at... that number stayed roughly steady (around 12%).

The one outlier appeared when I looked at how many myths a person says they believe in... grouped by generic political leanings (Left, Centrist, or Right Leaning).

 

Notice that the percentage of respondents who "Believe at least one myth" or "Believes 4+ myths" stays roughly consistent (with only mild variances) across all three political groupings.

But, if you look at the "Believes 3+ myths" data, there is an 8% spike among those who identify as "Left Leaning".

While all surveyed were likely to believe at least one myth, "Left Leaning" respondents were slightly more likely to believe up to 3 myths (of the 6 presented).

 

The Myths of Computer History

 

For those curious, here are the 6 myths included in the survey (with links to debunk each of them).  

 

Read full Article
February 18, 2025
Lunduke's Birthday! Woo!

Wooo! Today is Lunduke’s birthday! Want to help celebrate this most excellent of holidays? Here’s some totally radical ideas!

1) Share some links to Lunduke Journal shows.

Bonus points if you share those shows to the type of places where people would get mad about it. 🤣

The “Open Source is Anti-Free Speech” video is a great choice. Just remember to take screenshots… because some sites will censor those links faster than you can blink (be sure to let me know if they do censor).

2) Grab a Subscription

Gotta keep the lights on here at The Lunduke Journal! And, shoot, there’s no better gift than the gift of Big-Tech-Free Journalism. 😎

Plus… for the rest of February there’s some massive discounts (like 50% off).

https://lunduke.locals.com/post/6661699/for-february-50-off-subscriptions-50-off-drm-free-downloads-lifetime-subscriptions-available

So, you know, win-win!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go eat some BBQ. Because… birthday.

-Lunduke

 
Read full Article
February 13, 2025
For February: 50% off Subscriptions, 50% off DRM-Free Downloads, Lifetime Subscriptions available

2025 is off to an amazing start for The Lunduke Journal.

The number of people getting their Big-Tech-Free Tech News from The Lunduke Journal is shooting through the roof. Subscriptions (of every kind) are soaring.

And The Lunduke Journal is now available on a wide variety of platforms — with our core community area now consolidating on our own, self-hosted forum (which is exclusively available to subscribers).

With the tidal wave of new people — many of you wanting access to the new, exclusive Forum — I want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to become a part of what we are doing. Time to do something a bit crazy. Massive discounts on subscriptions (I mean… huge). For the entire month of February.

Yup. The whole gosh darned month.

If it’s February, the discounts below are all available. Choose whatever works best for you. Then feel awesome about supporting truly independent Tech Journalism.

50% Off Yearly Subscription:

50% off a Yearly subscription to The Lunduke Journal via both Locals and Substack. (This includes full access to the community Forum.)

That’s $2.25 per month. Pocket change.

50% Off DRM-Free, MP4 Downloads:

Want to be able to download every show The Lunduke Journal releases (and watch them on whatever device you like)? Yeah. You can do that. For 50% off.

Note: This DRM-Free download option does not include access to the Forum. This option is strictly for downloading the episodes.

The Famous Lifetime Subscription:

The "World Famous Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscription" is exactly what it sounds like. Pay once and get full access to The Lunduke Journal. For life. A great way to support Big-Tech-Free Journalism.

(This includes full access to the community Forum.)

New Lifetime Subscriptions are available, for $200, from now through February 28th.

The Lifetime Subscription can be obtain via Locals, Substack, or using Bitcoin. All three options work great and are super easy.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Locals:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select "Give Once".

  3. Enter "200" into the amount field.

  4. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

How to get a Lifetime Subscription via Substack:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Substack.com/subscribe.

  2. Select the “Lifetime Subscription” option.

  3. After checking out, Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status. (This usually happens within a few hours.)

If you would also like full, Lifetime access to Lunduke.Locals.com (which is included):

  1. Make a free account on Lunduke.Locals.com.

  2. Email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the email address you use on both Substack and Locals (can be different email addresses).

  3. Lunduke will toss you an email once your account is set to full lifetime status on Locals.

How to get a Lifetime Subscription with Bitcoin:

And, finally, you can obtain a Lifetime Subscription via Bitcoin. Save a few bucks with this option, as Bitcoin processing has fewer fees associated with it.

bc1qyjakve8fywm8pz2v99v57yhjj0vzr2vjze6fcq

  • Email "bryan at lunduke.com" with the following information: What time you made the transaction, how much was sent (in Bitcoin), and the email address you use (or plan to use) on Locals.com.

The Lunduke Journal would not be possible without your support. Every subscriber, of every type, makes a massive difference in bringing Big-Tech-Free Tech Journalism to the world.

Thank you.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals