**[founder](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/founder)**2 (ODO) 

> 
> noun  
> 
> **1** A person who establishes an institution or settlement.  
> 
>      *‘he was the founder of modern Costa Rica’* 
> 
> 
> 

An article on SO has the author's name followed by "Co-Founder (**Former**)". I am not quite sure if someone could cease to be a "founder," for whatever reasons. (emphasis mine) 

meta:  

The earlier post "[What's a title for a founder no longer with a company?](https://english.stackexchange.com/q/77214/14666) asks for an alternative while stressing on the fact that "a founder is always a founder." 

I suspect most of the hits on Google search are either related to non-native speakers' writings or incidental proximity of the words rather than an intentional use of the phrase. 

One may dissociate oneself from something after having founded it. Can someone cease to be a "founder"?