Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence
Automattic's board placed founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg on paid leave against his will, naming CFO Mark Davies as interim CEO, while Mullenweg keeps his board seat and leadership of the open-source WordPress project.
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce and Pocket Casts, has placed founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence against his wishes, according to a Slack message seen by TechCrunch.
In a company-wide Slack channel on Wednesday, Mullenweg wrote that CFO Mark Davies had coordinated with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider and Sue Decker to vote him onto leave without his knowledge. He said he voted against the move and had received the resolution only 50 minutes before the board meeting, with his repeated requests for time to consult independent legal counsel denied. Davies was named interim CEO.
In an emailed statement, Automattic confirmed Mullenweg is currently on leave and said the board has full confidence in Davies' leadership and the team's ability to execute on priorities. Davies told employees that Mullenweg remains on the board of directors. The reason behind the board's decision was not made clear.
Mary Hubbard, executive director of the open-source WordPress.org project, confirmed the change in Mullenweg's status at the commercial company but said WordPress.org itself is unaffected, noting that Mullenweg remains the project's leader and that teams and priorities continue as planned.
Background of turmoil
The move follows years of controversy surrounding Mullenweg and Automattic. The company remains locked in a legal battle with hosting competitor WP Engine, which Mullenweg accused of profiting from the open-source WordPress project without contributing back, demanding royalty payments. WP Engine sued Automattic in October 2024 over defamation and abuse-of-power allegations, and Automattic filed counterclaims. Earlier this year, WP Engine claimed Automattic planned to pursue royalty claims against ten more competitors.
Mullenweg has also previously told employees to resign with severance if they disagreed with his leadership, which 159 did, and threatened to deactivate accounts of WordPress.org community members over a planned forked version of the project. In April, Automattic cut 16% of its workforce. It remains unclear why the board acted at this particular time.
