Technology

For this guy to be paid for all his previous work for which he was supposedly very much underpaid just like almost every open source dev out there. For relinquishing control of the project to a new non-profit he can have 10 million for all i care. From the original announcement:

For our team, a vital aspect of getting this restructuring right was making sure that Eugen was compensated fairly for Mastodon’s brand trademark, assets, and the 10 years he spent building Mastodon into what it is today (while taking less than a fair market salary). Based on replacement costs, Eugen’s time and effort, and the fair market value of the Mastodon brand, its associated properties, and the social network, we settled on a one-time compensation of EUR 1M. We are deeply grateful for his past contributions, and look forward to his contributions still to come.

The articles I've seen say that it was for the past 10 years of work, some amount of which was unpaid

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/18/mastodon-ceo-steps-down-as-the-social-network-restructures/

With the revamp, Mastodon has the potential to expand its business, product, and mission, without being dependent on a single person’s leadership. It will also give Rochko a break, as he’s been singularly focused on Mastodon for the past 10 years.

Going forward, Rochko will continue contributing to Mastodon as an adviser. He has also been compensated with a one-time payment of €1 million, given that he took less than a fair market salary over the years while building Mastodon.

I don't have insight into the decision making process that went into deciding on that amount, maybe it's less than what he should have been compensated for, maybe it's more. But it sounds like they reached that decision amicably

Why don't you like people being paid for their work?