Eugen Rochko, CEO and founder of decentralized social network Mastodon, is stepping down after nearly a decade at the helm and walking away with a sizable exit payment.
“Mastodon grew beyond any of my expectations,” he said. “The past two years especially have been overwhelming, and my mental and physical health have taken a dip.”
Rochko’s move has, by his own admission, been a while coming. In April 2024, the establishment of a US nonprofit was announced with a governing board of directors that included Twitter co-founder Biz Stone. Rochko also announced that his ownership of the trademark and other assets were headed to the nonprofit.



sweden is so sparsely populated that some places have more empty houses than people. population density is about a quarter that of spain. the big cities are closer to the rest of europe, with homes going for three to four times the price of something an hour away and the rent queue being dominated by people who have been there since the 90s.
i bought a 70ish sqm apartment for about €100k two-ish hours from stockholm. in the city that would probably go for 5-20x the cost (depending on area) and have at least double the monthly cost.