Proton celebrates its tenth anniversary and merges with the foundation

The founders of Proton have placed the majority of the shares in the Proton Foundation. This makes the Swiss foundation the largest shareholder. This should ensure that the ten-year-old Proton continues to put its own interests above those of its lenders.

Co-founder Andy Yen commemorates in a blog post the tenth anniversary of Proton, provider of privacy-oriented online services. He writes that a Swiss foundation has been chosen as the legal entity. Proton's headquarters are also in Switzerland. According to Yen, Swiss foundations have no shareholders, but they do have a board of directors. That council would be legally obliged to act in accordance with the foundation's mission statement.

Through this decision, the Proton Foundation becomes the largest shareholder of Proton AG. According to Yen, this means that no major decisions can be made within the company without the permission of the Foundation. For example, possible takeovers by venture capitalists could be averted in this way.

The Proton Foundation will continue to provide grants in the future for organizations and companies that have a similar goal in mind. According to Yen, that goal is to protect global online and offline security. Proton will continue its economic activity and annually transfer one percent of its net turnover to the foundation. That money is reportedly intended for projects that serve the public interest.

Proton Foundation