We're not forking out his funds, Steem chain will still run and he'll have his Steem (but it probably won't be worth much). We're starting a second chain, Hive, with an airdrop on Steemians. And we're not dropping on the Steemit stake.

Most of the community consensus witnesses have already given their blessing and support for the idea, I suspect there will be less than a handful of the top 50 that oppose it (counting 50 down while ignoring the sockpuppets).