Mozilla overview
Mozilla makes open-source software for the web, led by the Firefox browser. Firefox is developed by Mozilla Corporation, a wholly owned taxable subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit that holds the Mozilla trademarks and sets the project’s mission. The corporation has no outside shareholders and reinvests its earnings; besides Firefox it runs the MDN Web Docs reference for web developers, Mozilla VPN and the Firefox Relay email masking service. The Thunderbird email client belongs to the same family but is built by a separate Foundation subsidiary, MZLA Technologies Corporation.
The organization traces back to Netscape Communications, which published the source code of its browser in 1998 and created mozilla.org to coordinate the open-source work. Netscape lawyer Mitchell Baker and JavaScript creator Brendan Eich were among the project’s leaders. After AOL, which had bought Netscape, pulled back, the Mozilla Foundation was set up in July 2003 with a $2 million pledge from AOL. Its lean Firefox browser, released in November 2004, won users from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, and in August 2005 the Foundation formed Mozilla Corporation so that commercial income, chiefly payments from search engines built into Firefox, could be earned outside the tax-exempt foundation.
Google has been Firefox’s default search engine in most markets for nearly all of its history, apart from a 2014 to 2017 deal that made Yahoo the US default, and those royalties still fund most of Mozilla’s work. In 2023 search deals brought in about $495 million of Mozilla’s roughly $653 million in revenue. Google’s own Chrome browser, launched in 2008, gradually overtook Firefox, and ventures such as the Firefox OS phone platform did not last. Mozilla rebuilt Firefox’s engine under the Quantum project in 2017 and cut about 250 jobs in 2020. StatCounter estimated Firefox’s share of worldwide browser usage at 2.98 percent across all devices and 5.31 percent on desktop computers in August 2026.
Baker stepped down as chief executive in February 2024, and board member Laura Chambers served as interim CEO until Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, previously general manager of Firefox, took over in December 2025. Mozilla shut down the Pocket read-it-later service and the Fakespot fake-review detection service in 2025 and has promised to diversify its income and add optional AI features to Firefox. Its reliance on Google also ties it to US antitrust litigation. A September 2025 ruling let Google keep paying for default search placement, but federal and state enforcers have asked an appeals court to reverse that part of the decision, and in an August 2026 brief Mozilla warned that losing the payments could force it to exit the browser and browser engine markets.
Software by Mozilla
2 products profiled, from Thunderbird (2003) to Firefox (2004).
Mozilla history and milestones
- 1998
Netscape publishes its browser’s source code and launches the Mozilla project to develop it in the open.
- 2003
The Mozilla Foundation is established in July as an independent non-profit, backed by a $2 million pledge from AOL.
- 2004
Firefox 1.0 is released on November 9, and Thunderbird 1.0 follows in December.
- 2005
The Foundation creates Mozilla Corporation in August to develop Firefox and manage its commercial partnerships.
- 2011
Mozilla moves Firefox to a rapid release schedule, shipping a new version every six weeks.
- 2014
Brendan Eich resigns as CEO days after his appointment, and Chris Beard later becomes chief executive.
- 2017
Firefox Quantum rebuilds major parts of the browser engine, and Mozilla acquires the read-it-later app Pocket.
- 2020
Mozilla lays off about 250 employees, and Thunderbird moves to the new subsidiary MZLA Technologies.
- 2024
Mitchell Baker steps down as CEO in February, and board member Laura Chambers becomes interim chief executive.
- 2025
Mozilla shuts down Pocket and Fakespot, and Firefox chief Anthony Enzor-DeMeo becomes CEO in December.
- 2026
Firefox 148 adds AI controls in February, including a setting that blocks the browser’s AI features.
Who founded Mozilla?
Mitchell Baker
Co-founder; CEO from 2005 to 2008 and from 2020 to 2024
Mitchell Baker was a lawyer at Netscape when the company opened its browser code in 1998, and she wrote the Mozilla Public License that governed the project. She ran mozilla.org under the self-chosen title Chief Lizard Wrangler, kept leading it as a volunteer after AOL laid her off in 2001, and became president of the Mozilla Foundation when it was established in 2003.
Baker served as the first chief executive of Mozilla Corporation from 2005 to 2008 and then chaired its board. She returned as CEO in 2020, a year in which Mozilla cut about a quarter of its staff, and stepped down in February 2024. In February 2025 she left the boards of both the Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation.
Brendan Eich
Co-founder; CTO from 2005 to 2014 and briefly CEO in 2014
Brendan Eich created the JavaScript programming language at Netscape in 1995 and in 1998 helped found mozilla.org, where he acted as chief architect of the open-source browser code. When Mozilla Corporation was formed in 2005 he became its chief technology officer, guiding the technical direction of Firefox and Mozilla’s work on web standards for nearly a decade.
Mozilla’s board named Eich chief executive in March 2014, but he resigned about 11 days later amid criticism of a 2008 donation he had made to support California’s Proposition 8, a ballot measure against same-sex marriage. In 2015 he co-founded Brave Software, maker of the privacy-focused, Chromium-based Brave browser, and became its CEO.
How Mozilla makes money
Firefox is free, and Mozilla Corporation earns most of its money by directing search traffic to partners. Search engines pay royalties to be built into the browser, with Google the default in most markets, and in 2023 those deals accounted for about $495 million of Mozilla’s roughly $653 million in revenue. A September 2025 US antitrust ruling allowed Google to keep making such payments but barred exclusive deals, and the final judgment that December limited default-placement agreements to one year; enforcers are appealing the part that permits the payments.
To reduce that dependence, Mozilla sells advertising on the Firefox new tab page, offers subscriptions such as Mozilla VPN and a premium tier of Firefox Relay, and in 2024 bought Anonym, a company that builds privacy-preserving ad measurement tools. The corporation pays the Mozilla Foundation a royalty for use of the Mozilla name. Thunderbird is financed separately, mainly through donations from its users.
Who owns and runs Mozilla?
Anthony Enzor-DeMeo has been CEO of Mozilla Corporation since December 2025. He joined Mozilla in late 2024 from the real estate investment platform Roofstock and ran Firefox as general manager before succeeding interim CEO Laura Chambers, who returned to the board. Mark Surman is president of Mozilla, Nabiha Syed is executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, and Ryan Sipes leads Thunderbird as CEO of MZLA Technologies. Mozilla Corporation has no outside shareholders: it is wholly owned by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, which also owns MZLA.
- Anthony Enzor-DeMeoCEO of Mozilla Corporation (since December 2025)
- Mark SurmanPresident of Mozilla
- Nabiha SyedExecutive director of the Mozilla Foundation
- Ryan SipesCEO of MZLA Technologies, the maker of Thunderbird
Mozilla: frequently asked questions
Who founded Mozilla?
Mozilla grew out of an open-source project that Netscape launched in 1998. Mitchell Baker and Brendan Eich were among its founding leaders. Baker became president of the Mozilla Foundation when it was established in 2003, and when the Foundation created Mozilla Corporation in August 2005 to develop Firefox, Baker became its first CEO and Eich its chief technology officer.
Who owns Mozilla?
Mozilla Corporation is wholly owned by the Mozilla Foundation, a US non-profit organization. It has no outside shareholders, its shares are not publicly traded, and it reinvests its profits in Mozilla’s products and mission. The Foundation also owns MZLA Technologies Corporation, the subsidiary that develops the Thunderbird email client.
Who is the CEO of Mozilla?
Anthony Enzor-DeMeo is the CEO of Mozilla Corporation, the maker of Firefox. He was appointed in December 2025 after serving as general manager of Firefox, succeeding Laura Chambers, who had been interim CEO since Mitchell Baker stepped down in February 2024. Thunderbird’s developer, MZLA Technologies, has its own CEO, Ryan Sipes.
Where is Mozilla headquartered?
Mozilla Corporation is headquartered in San Francisco, California. When the corporation was formed in 2005, Mozilla was based in Mountain View, California. Its software is also built by employees and volunteer contributors working in many other countries.
What software does Mozilla make?
Mozilla’s best-known product is the Firefox web browser for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. The Mozilla family also includes the Thunderbird email client, made by sister company MZLA Technologies, along with the MDN Web Docs developer reference, Mozilla VPN and the Firefox Relay email masking service.
How does Mozilla make money?
Most of Mozilla Corporation’s revenue comes from royalties that search engines, chiefly Google, pay to be built into Firefox. In 2023 search deals brought in about $495 million of roughly $653 million in revenue. Mozilla also earns money from advertising in Firefox and from subscriptions such as Mozilla VPN.
Is Mozilla a non-profit?
Partly. The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit, but Mozilla Corporation, which develops Firefox, is a taxable subsidiary that earns commercial revenue. Unlike an ordinary company, it has no investors or publicly traded stock, and its earnings are reinvested in Mozilla’s work instead of being paid out to owners.
Sources
- Mozilla leadership mozilla.org
- Mozilla’s next chapter: Building the world’s most trusted software company blog.mozilla.org
- Updates on Mozilla’s Leadership and Growth Planning blog.mozilla.org
- Tougher Google Antitrust Penalties Threaten Firefox, Mozilla Warns finance.yahoo.com
- Mozilla Revenue Jumped in 2023, But Search Deal Cash Fell, OMG! Ubuntu omgubuntu.co.uk
- Mozilla Corporation, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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