Mozilla has announced its interim chief executive Chris Beard will stay on permanently, following three months as caretaker of the firm.

He rejoined the company after less than a year at venture capital firm Greylock Partners, following Brenden Eich’s ousting over an $1,000 donation to Proposition 8, a group opposed to same sex marriage.

Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of Mozilla, said: "Chris has a keen sense of where Mozilla has been – and where we’re headed.

"There’s simply no better person to lead Mozilla as we extend our impact from Firefox on the desktop to the worlds of mobile devices and services."

Beard first joined Mozilla in 2004 as VP of products, and has since held roles as chief innovation officer and CMO.

Since his reunion with the firm it has released a number of significant updates for its flagship web browser Firefox, and tried to move on from the controversy surrounding Eich’s appointment, which lasted less than two weeks.

Reid Hoffman, executive chairman of LinkedIn, said: "I’ve worked with Chris for nearly a decade. He brings the leadership that inspires and unites community, products, and technology for a free and open web.

"He is the right CEO for Mozilla, as the organization, community, and movement for open technologies."