[Foundation-l] Wikia leasing office space to WMF

[Geoffrey Plourde]

As a Board trustee, I don't believe that Jimmy would fall under the manager scheme. If this were the case, a Foundation could be barred from buying Apple computers from Apple, if Steve jobs were on their board. 




________________________________
From: Gregory Kohs <thekohser at gmail.com>
To: foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 12:53:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Wikia leasing office space to WMF

Geoffrey Plourde said:

"Why should a taco stand use a dry cleaning shop when it can get
another taco shop?"

Gregory Kohs responds:

I might be able to give a better answer if you could tell us whether
it is Taco Stand A or it is Taco Stand B in your analogy that is the
non-profit charity, funded with tax-deductible dollars, whose donors
probably fully expected that their money would NOT be used to pay rent
to the other, decidedly *for-profit* taco stand.

Geoffrey Plourde also said (twice) that he disagrees with my assertion
of nepotism.

Gregory Kohs responds:

I have never said that this situation is nepotism, and in fact I
corrected someone else that it was *not* nepotism.  I am of the
understanding that none of the members of the WMF Board or staff are
related by blood or marriage to any of the owners or staff of Wikia,
Inc.  I did say (either here or elsewhere) that at one time 60% of the
WMF Board were all employed by Wikia, Inc., but that's not a family
thing, as far as I know.

Let me just ask here... are any of the participants on this list
expert in the legal statutes that surround the issue of
"self-dealing"?  For example, has anyone who has commented thus far
actually read:  26 U.S.C.A. § 4941 (1969)?

Self-dealing includes sale or exchange, or leasing, of property
between a private foundation and a disqualified person; and a
disqualified person may be a foundation manager or an owner of more
than 20 percent of either (i) the total combined voting power of a
corporation, or (ii) the profits interest of a partnership.  I don't
know whether Jimmy Wales retains 20% of the voting power or profits
interest of Wikia, Inc., and I am not asking that, but he could
certainly be considered a foundation manager, no?

Please, in your rush to judgment about the character of my "attacks"
here, take some time to actually explore and learn about United States
law.  The Foundation could be in serious trouble here, and you're
spending an awful lot of energy railing against the messenger.

Greg

_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l