Mozilla Selects Marketing Exec as Interim CEO

Mozilla today named its chief marketing officer as interim CEO, a week or so after Brendan Eich resigned over a donation he made to an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative.

In addition to being named interim CEO, Chris Beard is joining Mozilla's board of directors.

'In this time of transition there is no better person to lead us,' Mozilla executive chairwoman Mitchell Baker wrote in a blog post. 'Chris has one of the clearest visions of how to take the Mozilla mission and turn it into programs and activities and product ideas that I have ever seen.'

Beard has been with Mozilla since it shipped Firefox 1.0, she said, leading the company's product, marketing, and innovation teams in the early days before being named CMO.

'We intend to use recent events as a catalyst to develop and expand Mozilla's leadership,' Baker said. '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.' Beard, she said, 'is a strong candidate for CEO.'

Eich, a Mozilla co-founder, was named CEO in late March. Shortly after his appointment, however, a 2008 donation he made to California's Proposition 8 against gay marriage cropped up, prompting outrage from many of those in Silicon Valley. Eich declined to discuss his personal beliefs, but pledged to embrace diversity at the company. But the controversy reached a fever pitch, and Eich eventually decided to resign – only a few weeks after his appointment.