CodeWeavers partners of Valve on Proton move to an Employee Ownership Trust

After 27 years, Jeremy White is leaving CodeWeavers, the company who oversee and fund Wine development and also work on Proton with Valve for the Steam Deck and Linux desktop.

This is going to be a big change for their company, with it moving over to an Employee Ownership Trust, which sounds like a really nice move overall. This ensures the company works for the staff and the community, giving employees more of a say in how it runs and a share of profits too.

Announced in a press release and a personal blog post from White, the new CEO will be James Ramey who has been the long time president of the company and Ulrich Czekalla, their director of development, moving over to President. However, White will remain as Chairman of the Board so not entirely gone.

“We believe that this trust represents a new model for corporate governance,” said White. “The trust allows the company to be run for the benefit of the staff and the broader community, rather than for shareholder profit. I believe this will create a more sustainable, ethical, and equitable business.”

“I'm looking forward to seeing this in practice!” said Proton lead developer Arek Hiler. “The relationship with many employers is very one-sided—employees are there to generate value for the owners and can be made redundant on shareholders' whim. With this change, I know the company has my back. Not only is it more democratic, but profits will go to the employees who generate them.”

Seems like their team are happy with the move, so hopefully this will help keep Wine and Proton development going strong long into the future.