October 23, 2007 3:07 PM PDT

Mozilla's 2006 revenue: $66.8 million

Mozilla, the group behind the open-source Firefox Web browser, disclosed its 2006 revenue Monday night: $66,840,850.

That's a 26 percent bump up from the $52.9 million that Mozilla garnered in 2005. And with 2006 expenses slicing off only $19.8 million, Mozilla has a tidy sum left at its disposal, even if it's no Microsoft.

Mozilla backs the development of both the Firefox Web browser and the Thunderbird e-mail client.

(Credit: Mozilla)

"The highlight is that Mozilla remains financially healthy: we're able to hire more people, build more products, help other projects, and bring more possibilities for participation in the Internet to millions of people," foundation Chairman Mitchell Baker said in a blog posting. The foundation released the results in conjunction with its 2006 tax form.

As in 2005, about 85 percent of the revenue came from Google, according to a related frequently asked questions page. Google is the default option in the Firefox search bar, and a Firefox-branded Google page is the default home page for Firefox.

However, the Google contract expires in November 2008, Mozilla said, at which point the foundation could extend the deal or look for other partners. "We have significant retained earnings, which allows us a good degree of flexibility," the foundation said on the FAQ.

The foundation funded the work of about 90 people by the end of 2006. "In 2007 we expect our expenses to be significantly higher as we have continued to hire and fund more people and develop additional programs," she said.

The revenue was for both the Mozilla Foundation and its sort-of for-profit subsidiary, Mozilla Corp. (Yes, it's confusing, and it's not going away: the Mozilla Foundation just set up another subsidiary to focus on its Thunderbird e-mail software.)

Recent posts from Underexposed
Yahoo hopes users will help pinpoint photos
Red Hat lives on the edge with Fedora 9
Firefox add-on infected with Trojan remnant
Linux video project evades DMCA, back on Google Code
Google: Unicode conquers ASCII on the Web
Add a Comment (Log in or register) 3 comments (Page 1 of 1)
where do I submit my resume
by ColdMast October 23, 2007 3:34 PM PDT
non-profit!?
Reply to this comment
CONGRATULATIONS !
by jdrachmat October 23, 2007 6:56 PM PDT
It is a massively good news that Mozilla is in a good shape financially. One of the comment here appears aggrieved, poking on its "not-for-profit" status. So sorry, in this age, if you have no money you can't survive. If we expect Mozilla to continue prospering, publishing more useful, more secure web products, then it has to be able to recruit the very best talents in the market. They in turn won't join Mozilla if it is an enterprise which is continuously teetering on the brink of precipice !!
Reply to this comment
Mozilla rocks!
by pentium4forever October 24, 2007 8:24 AM PDT
Mozilla rocks! I'm glad to see their revenue boosted. They can really thank Google for a lot of their success obviously. I use Firefox and Thunderbird and they both work very well. Well done Mozilla!
Reply to this comment
Powered by Jive Software
advertisement
  • About Underexposed

  • This blog sheds light on digital photography, science and open-source software--Stephen Shankland's eclectic beat. Shankland joined CNET News.com in 1998 after a five-year stint as a science writer. He's a lab rat who grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and graduated from Harvard.

    Contact Stephen at Stephen.Shankland@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader
Google
Yahoo
MSN

Stuff I'm reading:

Most popular stories

  1. Images: Microsoft telescope puts universe on your desktop

  2. Photos: Cracking open the Atari 2600

  3. End of Intel, AMD duopoly near? Via readies Isaiah chip

  4. This VC forecast scares the pants off of me

  5. The Internet thrives on dark energy

Latest tech news headlines

Featured blogs

Beyond Binary by Ina Fried

Coop's Corner by Charles Cooper

Defense in Depth by Robert Vamosi

Geek Gestalt by Daniel Terdiman

Green Tech

One More Thing by Tom Krazit

Outside the Lines by Dan Farber

The Iconoclast by Declan McCullagh

The Social by Caroline McCarthy

Resource center from News.com sponsors

advertisement
Click Here
On BNET: Why Gen X is unhappy at work
Advanced
search
Advanced
search
Visit other CNET Networks sites: