[Foundation-l] Omidyar Network Commits $2 Million Grant to Wikimedia Foundation

[Anthony]

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 2:11 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> 2009/8/28 Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org>: > It seems to me that if one is
>> to assume good faith, the answer is that the
>> > money and the commitment by Halprin to be on the board *were* related,
>> in
>> > that they were both things provided for the Wikimedia Foundation by
>> related
>> > parties.  It all depends on how you look at it, really.  You can look at
>> it
>> > as the WMF gave Halprin a seat, or you can look at it as Halprin agreed
>> to
>> > take a seat.
>>
>> Who made the offer and who the acceptance isn't very important. It is
>> a legal technicality, but all that really matters is that both exist.
>>
>
> I'm not talking about who made the offer and who the acceptance.  I'm
> talking about who benefits.  As long as the WMF benefits from each
> individual transaction, I don't see the problem.
>
> And I don't see qualified experts lining up begging to work for free as
> Wikimedia Board members.  The biggest argument against the accusation that
> the WMF board seat was bought for $2 million is that it isn't worth $2
> million.
>

By the way, in the future, the board should avoid these kinds of accusations
by clearly separating the two transactions.  If possible, the board members
shouldn't even know about the $2 million until after it has voted.  If not,
the $2 million should be announced publicly before the board votes.  I
suppose there could still be secret contracts or at least verbal agreements
involved, but they'd probably leak out and be announced by Kelly Martin or
someone.