WikiLeaks given $1.3m in 2010, and Julian Assange pays himself two thirds of the salary budget

WikiLeaks given $1.3m in 2010, and Julian Assange pays himself two thirds of the salary budget | Mail Online

The main financial arm of online whistleblower WikiLeaks, the Germany-based Wau Holland Foundation, says it has collected about $1.3 million in donations in 2010, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

Wau Holland is the major financial provider for WikiLeaks, the Journal reports.

It has established a Greenpeace-like system of salary payments, as WikiLeaks attempts to legitimise its organisation by moving away from purely volunteer-based work.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the move towards salaried employees came after a year-long intense internal debate about whether to do so.

Founder Julian Assange has raked in around $86,000 in salary this year, and Wau Holland has paid more than $130,000 in salaries to the entire WikiLeaks staff.

While it appears that Mr Assange is taking the bulk of the money, the Wall Street Journal is quick to point out that Wau Holland is not WikiLeaks' sole monetary provider.

Under the Greenpeace salary structure, department heads are paid about $7,200 in monthly salary, a Wau Holland spokesman said.

Among the many revelations from the journal report are several indications that donations to WikiLeaks have dropped off significantly in the second half of the year.

By August, WikiLeaks had raised just over $1m, which means it has only raised about $300,000 since then.

Last summer, WikiLeaks said it operated on just under $200,000 a year. Now, however, the foundation says it has paid about $500,000 in WikiLeaks expenses, with some invoices for the year still unprocessed.

Some of that total is for hardware, Internet access and travel, a Wau Holland spokesman said.

But a big factor in the leap is a recent decision to begin paying salaries to staff.

WikiLeaks had also allegedly promised to contribute half of the estimated $100,000 it will cost for the legal defense of Bradley Manning.

Recently, however, a WikiLeaks spokesman said it would only donate around $20,000.

The Wau Holland Foundation is awaiting advice from its lawyers on whether the donation would be legal under German law, a spokesman told the journal.