So, it’s been hinted at for I think the last couple of years, but it is now official, Ton is stepping down as Chairman and CEO from Jan 1st 2026.
https://www.blender.org/press/blender-foundation-announces-new-board-and-executive-director/
And if you want to see/hear it in person:
I’m not well-versed enough in Blender’s history/culture to know whether or not this is a good or bad thing. Is this bad?
Ton invented Blender 30 years ago and got it to this point. I think good/bad aren’t the right words, but it’s definitely significant
It’s a good thing, he will be missed, but at the same time I’m convinced that everyone who has worked with him wish him well with whatever he is planning to do in his retirement years. He has setup the organization for blender to succeed without him, will the new team be as good as he was, he jokes in the keynote “probably not”, Time will tell, knowing some of the people he left in charge, I’m sure they’re gonna give it their all.
Also good to note, this was years in the making, the team isn’t new, the organizational structure isn’t new, he’s just taking the training wheels off so to speak by officially stepping back .
Knowing ton, he’ll still keep a close eye on things visible or not.
Still if you quit somewhere, and they need 4 people to fill the position you left, that’s some mighty big shoes to fill
What a journey, my man.
So long, and thanks for all the fish, Ton!
He leaves an incredible legacy and showed another way was possible in regards to innovating and guiding through evolving digital technology and the impact it has on our lives. The world so much needs more Ton’s I think. I wrote a tribute in the Blender FB post but thought I would share here too slightly tidied and edited.
Ton is what I think a real tech hero looks like. In an age of loud mouth smashers and grabbers drunk on the will to power who try to brand themselves tech heroes and innovators, this man is the real thing.
Somebody who actually has made the world better for real and brought people together. Somebody who values community and obviously believes in the good in humanity and in enabling and supporting human creativity and ingenuity and the best in all of us. Somebody who has changed countless lives world wide for the better and created so many opportunities for those who might not have had them before in making so much more achievable and possible.
This is obviously well deserved and not totally unexpected. Even so it feels to me like losing a vital inspirational rock and foundational figure in such uncertain disturbing times. I feel confident he leaves the ship in good hands but it feels like a very sad day for me.
Take care Ton. You are an amazing guy who has done such outstanding incredible things for so many. You leave an amazing example and legacy. You show it is possible to utilize and direct new technologies as a force for good in the world and build something incredible. Blender has been changing the creative sphere in quite radical and immensely positive ways bit by bit in its own way and a clear and direct steady as she goes strategy. It never had to copy anything else. It just needs to keep being better at being Blender.
Bon voyage
Amazing success!!
And he has retired in pretty much the same year as 2 of my all time favourite tech innovators within the context of 3D: Ofer from Pixologic/Zbrush, and Seb from Algorithmic/Substance.
3 great visionaries and passionate creators with incredible legacies. I’m relatively new to Blender (last 5 years), but it’s still clear to see the impact that Ton had and how much he was admired and respected. 
May they all enjoy a well-earned retirement.
Best of luck to Ton. I am kinda sad to see him go but I understand he isn’t getting any younger and needs his rest having worked on Blender for a very long time.
I am hoping this isn’t goodbye and he pops in every now and then. I am also curious if he still has control over Blender’s dev even though he is no longer Chairman and CEO but does he still own Blender but has decided to take a back seat but still has the final say on how things are done rather than a day to day runing of Blender’s development?
I am excited for him as he did say that he wants to step back into creating again. That is a beautiful thing, that he may now have time to Blend.
Thank you ton and have a nice vacation with your dog! 
damn bro went out his cave 
Thank you Ton for making possible to have in our hands at any time the only best f**king “free” and open-source 3D DCC app to exist 
(is not “free”, so remember guys to donate often or once in a while )
My life is better since I found Blender. Thank you Ton.
The good thing is that he has even planned this well. As always ahead in time.
Now, he will have time for typical hobbies of retired guys.
One of them is to contribute to code of free open source software. 
I’m not so sure it’s a case of ‘needing’ 4 people, but much more a case of risk management.
While this has no doubt been planned for over some time, I think Ton’s big health scare a couple of years ago not only ramped things up a bit, but also cemented the structure as it is now.
Basically not wanted to put all the Blender eggs in one basket. If something had happened to Ton say 5 years ago and he suddenly died, chances are Blender would have been in a lot of trouble. In many ways, filling his shoes with just a single person, would recreate that risk in another 5 or 10 years time.
So by making it 4 people, the risk is spread, you can focus and expand each of those tasks per person, rather then having one person trying to juggle them all.
Now sure, we all hope that Ton isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon and he still has a ‘backdoor’ advisory role. But no one lives forever, so this way he helps to make sure that once he and very likely most of us are long gone, that Blender lives on.
And that is one hell of a legacy.
Someone has misunderstood my post…the post doesn’t have any irony.
I just want to say “Thank you” for ton. And I also want to have a vacation…
Very richly deserved, a long time coming and I wish Ton all the best, having been following Blender for pretty much the entirety of those 24 years (even if I never quite found the time to really progress!).
That said, I feel a great degree of trepidation - most commercial companies don’t do well when the driving force retires and open source projects even more so. Fingers crossed those taking up the project stay true to both the vision and ethos - I wish them the best of luck too!
So i might also say thanks to @ton. But this sounds more like some farewell but i’m sure he will be alive and blending… 
Maybe even back to coding & chill, once a coder always a coder 
Ton’s work and vision are beyond my ability to use words. It’s more than what he made, but how he shared his work with us, and the team he built to make it happen for all of these years. Looking forward to what is next from the new leadership, no doubt we are all in good hands.