Out with Godwin, In with the new sycophant Options Rating

[thekohser]

This seems very, very, very, very, very fishy to me.

How does a non-profit 501-c-3 that files a Form 990 intend to keep secret, forever, a severance package for one of the top paid employees of the organization?

What rotten thing is going on here?

(Original and official announcement is here.)

This post has been edited by thekohser: Tue 19th October 2010, 7:53pm

[thekohser]

Would being hauled off in an FBI investigation over illegal use of a high-resolution seal of the bureau and/or condoning the Internet hosting of child pornography possibly constitute a "personal matter"?

This post has been edited by thekohser: Fri 6th January 2012, 2:35am

[Milton Roe]

This seems very, very, very, very, very fishy to me.

How does a non-profit 501-c-3 that files a Form 990 intend to keep secret, forever, a severance package for one of the top paid employees of the organization?

What rotten thing is going on here?

I would imagine he knows too much. They don't want the world to know how much they're paying him to go away and never talk. And there's deodorant payments for life.

[thekohser]

Someone pointed out to me the very peculiar characteristic of this line:

"The Wikimedia Foundation believes Mike has always acted in what he believes to be the Wikimedia Foundation’s best interests."

[NuclearWarfare]

Quite interesting that they wrote up a Q&A summary that anticipated most of the usual questions. Have they done that before?

[GlassBeadGame]

Someone pointed out to me the very peculiar characteristic of this line:

"The Wikimedia Foundation believes Mike has always acted in what he believes to be the Wikimedia Foundation’s best interests."

This was probably intended to be the next best thing after "If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

[carbuncle]

Mike Godwin is probably just enjoying his success as managing director, Mövenpick Ice Cream, if I understand this piece in Eat Out magazine. I know some of you are saying "That's not the same Mike Godwin" (and "That's not how I pictured a magazine named Eat Out"), but check out this quote:

With an array of exquisite flavours, combined with our highly knowledgeable sales team, I'm sure we can continue the positive momentum throughout the Winter period, and capitalise on current consumer trends for premium products.

Clearly a lawyer.

[GlassBeadGame]

Quite interesting that they wrote up a Q&A summary that anticipated most of the usual questions. Have they done that before?

I did not heretofore understand that FAQ meant Frequently Avoided Questions.

...and three days notice? WTF?

I'm currently reading an account of the Tlatelolco Massacre of '68. After the event one of the students described the way they read the newspapers as "Why is my government telling me this particular lie at this particular moment?"

[anthony]

Who will be involved in the hiring process and how will it work?

Alright, so, the thing is, we're going to all put the name of a lawyer that we used to work with into a hat, and then I'm going to randomly pick one of those names out of that hat. This way everything is like totally fair, ya know?

This post has been edited by anthony: Tue 19th October 2010, 9:33pm

[Kevin]

Quite interesting that they wrote up a Q&A summary that anticipated most of the usual questions. Have they done that before?

I did not heretofore understand that FAQ meant Frequently Avoided Questions.

...and three days notice? WTF?

I'm currently reading an account of the Tlatelolco Massacre of '68. After the event one of the students described the way they read the newspapers as "Why is my government telling me this particular lie at this particular moment?"

3 days notice and a severance package tells me that he was pushed, and pushed hard. And the list of things that are not the reason leave a lot less to speculate on.

[Milton Roe]

Mike Godwin is probably just enjoying his success as managing director, Mövenpick Ice Cream, if I understand this piece in Eat Out magazine. I know some of you are saying "That's not the same Mike Godwin" (and "That's not how I pictured a magazine named Eat Out"), but check out this quote:

With an array of exquisite flavours, combined with our highly knowledgeable sales team, I'm sure we can continue the positive momentum throughout the Winter period, and capitalise on current consumer trends for premium products.

Clearly a lawyer.

Now he can be the Emperor of Ice Cream. Let "be" be finale of "seem".

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

[TungstenCarbide]

meh ... sounds like he got laid off - fired without cause.

Since when do people who quit get severance packages.

I suppose the unprofessional and childish public letter to the FBI didn't help.

[Jon Awbrey]

WiiKiiLiiKii

Drip, Drip, Drip

[SB_Johnny]

a severance package for one of the top paid employees of the organization?

I hope it's enough for him to take a long vacation in a pleasant place where he can read printed-on-paper law journals so that he can decompress and reconnect with reality.

Maybe he can write a good tell-all memoir.

[Shalom]

Someone pointed out to me the very peculiar characteristic of this line:

"The Wikimedia Foundation believes Mike has always acted in what he believes to be the Wikimedia Foundation’s best interests."

This was probably intended to be the next best thing after "If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all."

Yes, I noticed that line also.

My take?

God WIN

Mike FAIL

[gomi]

How does a non-profit 501-c-3 that files a Form 990 intend to keep secret, forever, a severance package for one of the top paid employees of the organization?

Don't quote me on this one, as I haven't researched it, but I believe that only "normal" compensation is required to be included on a 990. It could be that they have interpreted a termination "settlement" as something other than that. Also, if he was neither an officer or one of the five most highly paid employees, then he won't be there either.

[Kelly Martin]

meh ... sounds like he got laid off - fired without cause.

That's the official line, of course. But the reality is that he was shoved out the door for being incompatible with Sue's vision of what Wikimedia is about.

It'll be interesting whether Erik gets shoved next. He's pretty much the last of "Jimmy's people" (defined as people who were part of the Foundation before Sue came along). Jimmy himself better be watching his back; it's a matter of time before Sue and Company decide that he, too, is redundant.

[GlassBeadGame]

meh ... sounds like he got laid off - fired without cause.

That's the official line, of course. But the reality is that he was shoved out the door for being incompatible with Sue's vision of what Wikimedia is about.

It'll be interesting whether Erik gets shoved next. He's pretty much the last of "Jimmy's people" (defined as people who were part of the Foundation before Sue came along). Jimmy himself better be watching his back; it's a matter of time before Sue and Company decide that he, too, is redundant.

My hope is that this is a move away from FreeKulture. Not only will this open up the possibility of acting in a more responsible manner but strained relations might make FK and the tech press less likely to circle the wagons the next time WP steps in something nasty. Yep, could be Erik next.

[Milton Roe]

meh ... sounds like he got laid off - fired without cause.

That's the official line, of course. But the reality is that he was shoved out the door for being incompatible with Sue's vision of what Wikimedia is about.

It'll be interesting whether Erik gets shoved next. He's pretty much the last of "Jimmy's people" (defined as people who were part of the Foundation before Sue came along). Jimmy himself better be watching his back; it's a matter of time before Sue and Company decide that he, too, is redundant.

Indeed. In a sense, you pay taxes (whether on income or property) as the price of having the government recognize you as the OWNER, with owners' rights (or at least title rights). If you don't pay the taxes, you don't get that.

By refusing to own anything you can escape both taxes and legal risk (the risk of lawsuit from an unrelated civil suit back in 2001 apprently being ultimately why Jimmy does not own Wikipedia today).

But all this comes with a penalty.

[Doc glasgow]

Why is Mike leaving the Wikimedia Foundation?

Mike leaving the Wikimedia Foundation is a confidential
issue, and the Wikimedia Foundation doesn’t talk about confidential
personnel issues with anyone except the people directly involved. We
want to handle this kind of thing with respect for people’s privacy
and dignity, and we are hopeful we can do that in this instance. That
means, we’re not going to answer this question, and we hope you will
understand why.

That says to me "fired, but we gave him a settlement in return for his silence".

The usual mantra is "mutual agreement" or "personal reasons" but this says "personnel", which looks to me like "fired for cause".