[Foundation-l] Honorarium (was Re: [Found>, > This conversation had jumped back and forth ....)

Sat Aug 12 22:09:53 UTC 2006

Daniel Mayer wrote:
> --- Jimmy Wales <jwales at wikia.com> wrote:
>> I have for a very long time now stressed to everyone who invites me to 
>> speak that they are inviting me in my personal capacity.  So this
>> policy will have no impact on me.  But it could have impact on many others.
> 
> You, above all other members of the board and officers, have the very real capacity to generate
> significant revenue for the foundation to help us further our charitable mission. Your fame is
> wholly the result of your founding and guiding of Wikipedia. People would not ask you to speak if
> it were not for that. Thus it seems perfectly reasonable to me, and in fact most ethical, for any
> honorarium you receive for speaking about Wikipedia/Wikimedia to go to the foundation. In fact, I
> would love to use your fame as a significant fundraising mechanism - $200 per plate dinners and
> such. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these honoraria essentially Jimmy's only 
means of income? I don't know if he draws a salary from Wikia, but I'm 
fairly sure that the company is not yet turning a profit. He works almost 
full-time publicising Wikimedia. It would seem very strange to me to deny 
him this one small token of our appreciation.

-- Tim Starling