John Lilly to Step Down as Mozilla CEO

Mozilla CEO John Lilly has just announced his intentions of leaving his role at the organization. He has been CEO of the Mozilla Corporation since 2008, but worked with the organization for five years. He will be joining Greylock Partners as a venture partner. He will stay with Mozilla as CEO for a few months until a suitable successor is found and will likely remain on the board of directors. The announcement was also sent out to Mozilla employees.

“As my five year anniversary at Mozilla approaches, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to move on to my next role sometime later this year. This won’t happen today or tomorrow – I expect to be here and working for several months yet, and I’m planning to stay on the Board of Directors,” the CEO said in an email to employees.

“I’ve always been a startup guy at heart–Mozilla was originally going to be a quick volunteer effort for me, but quickly turned into a full time job, and at the beginning of 2008 turned into the CEO job that I have now,” he explained.

Lilly started as a volunteer at the Mozilla Foundation, but his role has evolved over time. He became a consultant for the organization and, later, COO of Mozilla Corporation. In 2008, he became CEO replacing Mitchell Baker.

Mozilla operates as both a non-profit and a profit organization. Mozilla Foundation is the non-profit outfit that oversees all projects associated with the group. The Mozilla Corporation is a for-profit organization that handles Firefox marketing and everything else having to do with the Firefox end-product.

Lilly says Firefox is in a very strong position and it’s a good time for him to leave. He will remain involved with Mozilla even after he resigns as CEO. The plans for the upcoming Firefox 4 were released yesterday, promising a solid release.