Few know the name of a developer, even though almost everyone has used their program at some point. Jean-Baptiste Kempf is the head behind the VLC Media Player.
Which developer and which program are we talking about? A post on X (formerly Twitter) brings a developer into the spotlight with around 4 million clicks. Jean-Baptiste Kempf is a French software developer and president of the non-profit organization VideoLAN, which oversees VLC. The VLC Media Player – short for “VideoLAN Client” – began in 1996 as a student project at École Centrale Paris. The goal was to create a player that could play all formats, regardless of operating system or codec.
Many know the program primarily because of its logo: an orange and white striped traffic cone that has long become a recognizable symbol. Kempf joined the project in 2003 when it was almost at a standstill. He took on key development work, restructured the organization, and continued to develop VLC with a growing community.
Something that everyone knows is the crash detection of the iPhone. In this video, you can see how it works.
An Orange Cone Against the World
Why did VLC refuse the money? Over the years, several large tech companies attempted to gain influence over VLC – with offers in the millions. It was about advertising, paid features, or complete buyouts. But Kempf refused each time.
In an interview on YouTube, he explained: “I believe software should empower people. This means: no advertising, no included features – just open technology that anyone can improve or customize.” His stance culminates in a simple but clear sentence: “Money is a prison.”
What is the Media Player doing today? While many programs today rely on advertising, user data, and subscription models, VLC remains a counter-model. The player completely forgoes tracking, monetization, or payment barriers and is still one of the most successful open-source projects in the world.
As TechCrunch reported, it was announced at CES 2025 in Las Vegas that VLC has now surpassed 6 billion downloads. At the same time, VideoLAN introduced a new feature: In the future, VLC will be able to generate subtitles in real time and translate them automatically using locally installed, open-source AI models, completely without internet connection or cloud dependency. The feature is still in development, and there is no release date yet. But the direction is clear: VLC remains technically relevant while staying true to its principles.
How is the project funded? VLC is not funded through advertising or licensing models. Instead, VideoLAN relies on voluntary donations. Users can support the project via PayPal, bank transfer, or cryptocurrencies on the official VideoLAN website. There are no pop-ups, no pressure, no donation counters, just the opportunity to give something back.
Jean-Baptiste Kempf himself does not earn money from VLC. He runs a separate company for video technology consulting that operates independently of VLC.
Do you think a player like VLC is just boring technology? Not at all. Sometimes there’s more in a video than you think, quite literally. Because there was once a clip that reliably caused certain Windows laptops to crash. And it wasn’t due to bad music, but rather a detail in the code.
