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Jon S. von Tetzchner is leaving Opera Software

By Joseph D. Lienjdlien. Friday, June 24, 2011 4:57:20 PM

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Jon S. von Tetzchner leaves Opera

From its humble beginnings, Opera's co-founder Jon von Tetzcher's vision and leadership made his company into the proud icon that it is today. Now, a year and a half after stepping down as CEO, he has announced that he is leaving.


It was a surprise for me to see the news today that Jon von Tetzchner is leaving Opera. This is a man that so many who have worked for years at Opera have grown to respect and admire, and his name and face is almost synonymous with the company itself.

As sad as it is to see Opera's former leader leave, this is often the case as companies grow and evolve. Many times througout history, companies has been founded by a visionary person whose passion allows them to plant the seeds and ideas for a company, and to get it through the tough times of starting up. Once a company grows, a change in leadership style is often be required as the complexities increase and dynamics of an organization change.

Jon's passion for technology certainly hasn't dwindled in the last years, and he has ideas for new projects, but is keeping the details to himself for now. We all wish Jon the best in the future -- he will be missed!

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Comments

dizdizlexik Friday, June 24, 2011 5:33:38 PM

Good luck Jon! smile

Uncle MickMickeyjoe-Irl Friday, June 24, 2011 5:36:07 PM

http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/Smilies/Sad.gif - Won't be the same without him.

Stevesgunhouse Friday, June 24, 2011 6:15:18 PM

cry

Rafael Luikrafaelluik Friday, June 24, 2011 6:21:36 PM

Beautiful text!
I wish all the best for him. smile

Max stoneDakerer53 Friday, June 24, 2011 6:27:11 PM

i think this'll also affect their products ?sad

Quentonmickey12gauge Friday, June 24, 2011 6:59:12 PM

Good luck Jon! Gonna miss ya buddy!

ErikshaktiIIIgta Friday, June 24, 2011 7:12:23 PM

bigeyes who was expecting this... certainly strange and sad news, hopefully Opera remains strong nervous scared

best of luck with whatever he does though yes

d4rkn1ght Friday, June 24, 2011 7:15:58 PM

Nooooo... sad

Daniel HendrycksDanielHendrycks Friday, June 24, 2011 7:59:32 PM

Wonder what he will work on now...

Torrente Torrente Friday, June 24, 2011 8:01:00 PM

This is not good ... are they selling company and he couldn't stop it?

Yeni Setiawansandalian Friday, June 24, 2011 8:15:24 PM

sad

0x29a Friday, June 24, 2011 9:02:24 PM

Yeah, I'm worried. As Opera goes so goes the Web, in my humble opinion. If Opera disappears, the Web is useless to me. I can only do so much with w3m.worried

Good luck, nonetheless, Jon.

Joseph D. Lienjdlien Friday, June 24, 2011 9:28:57 PM

Although it's a transition for us, Opera Software will not be going anywhere anytime soon. We have lots of great stuff in our roadmap for the next year, and we are doing really well as a company!

СергейMerser Friday, June 24, 2011 9:29:23 PM

sad
It is sad. This will have a negative effect on the company.
Perhaps this is a sign of the beginning of sunset Opera Software.

0x29a Friday, June 24, 2011 9:31:18 PM

Originally posted by jdlien:

Although it's a transition for us, Opera Software will not be going anywhere anytime soon. We have lots of great stuff in our roadmap for the next year, and we are doing really well as a company!


Then I will believe in Opera. Still. smile

I guess I still have a bad taste in my mouth after seeing what happened to SuSE Linux when Novell bought them and SuSE's founder left. down

Terry Phillipsterryphillips Saturday, June 25, 2011 6:06:43 AM

Good luck Jon and thanks from someone who appreciated Opera from its early days under your visionary leadership. There is a generation who believe that Firefox led innovation in browsers. Some of us know the truth and your crucial role.

I hope that the netbook generation do not destroy Opera as a desktop PC browser and there is no victory of style over function.

0x29a Saturday, June 25, 2011 6:21:33 AM

Originally posted by terryphillips:

I hope that the netbook generation do not destroy Opera as a desktop PC browser and there is no victory of style over function.


I can not agree with this strongly enough. I am very much a Linux desktop system user. Linux is what helped me find Opera in the first place, way back at version 5.x when I bought my first license.

ПавелGemorroj Saturday, June 25, 2011 6:24:47 AM

I hope that organizes the development of new alternative browser;)

metude Saturday, June 25, 2011 9:32:05 AM

Originally posted by jdlien:

We have lots of great stuff in our roadmap for the next year


Why not in this year? Be fast Opera team. p

Good luck Opera and Jon.

MobiusPrime Saturday, June 25, 2011 4:48:42 PM

Opera is Maturing and evolving. Hard to believe that anyone could get bored. Give your loyal users an insight to the technical path.
(A ladder diagram would be great)

Arun Kumarmarunkmr Saturday, June 25, 2011 5:21:14 PM

I believe that there were no disputes..!
Where is leaving to anyway..?

Jimtoyotabedzrock Saturday, June 25, 2011 7:11:45 PM

awww
Kind of scary, I hope this will not change how the devs interact with the community.
It's one of the best characteristics about Opera.

Good luck Jon! spock

I trust you will come back to let us all know what you will be doing next when your ready? wait

EricJH Monday, June 27, 2011 11:03:11 PM

Sorry to see you go as one of the founding fathers of Opera.

Chidiebube Cliffordchidcliff Friday, July 1, 2011 9:59:31 PM

Say what?!! Why must this happen? Just hope you will be willing to come back and help restore Opera if they start falling like what happened with Apple's Co-founder!yikes no doh

ChrisSlamdex Monday, July 4, 2011 12:24:24 PM

Originally posted by chidcliff:

Say what?!! Why must this happen? Just hope you will be willing to come back and help restore Opera if they start falling like what happened with Apple's Co-founder!

He hasn't been in charge of the company for a year and a half, and Opera is doing fine.

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