Automattic board places CEO Matt Mullenweg on leave — TechCrunch
Automattic’s board of directors has placed the company’s founder and CEO, Matt Mullenweg, on paid leave. Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies will serve as interim CEO, TechCrunch reports.
Board decision
Mullenweg wrote in a Slack channel accessible to all employees that he voted against the decision. According to him, Davies, together with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider and Sue Decker, voted to place him on paid leave.
Mullenweg also said that he received the text of the resolution 50 minutes before the meeting began. He repeatedly requested time to consult independent legal counsel, but said his request was denied.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Automattic confirmed that Mullenweg is on leave. The company said that Mark Davies, who serves as CFO, will lead it as interim CEO. The board of directors also stated that it has full confidence in his leadership and the team’s ability to carry out priority tasks. Davies told employees that Mullenweg remains a member of the board of directors.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
WordPress.org operations
WordPress Executive Director Mary Hubbard told the WordPress.org community that the change in Mullenweg’s status at the commercial company would not affect the open-source project’s operations. According to her, Mullenweg remains the leader of the WordPress project, and teams will continue working on planned priorities.
Mullenweg founded Automattic in 2003 after co-creating the open-source WordPress content management system. The company owns, among other brands, Tumblr, WooCommerce and Pocket Casts.
Legal dispute with WP Engine
Automattic and Mullenweg are involved in a prolonged legal dispute with hosting provider WP Engine. WP Engine filed a lawsuit in October 2024, accusing Automattic and Mullenweg of defamation and abuse of power. Automattic filed counterclaims. Mullenweg previously claimed that WP Engine profits from the WordPress project without making an adequate contribution to the community and demanded that it pay 8% of monthly gross revenue as royalties for using the WordPress brand.
In 2024, 159 Automattic employees resigned after Mullenweg offered employees who disagreed with him the option to leave the company with compensation. In April 2025, Automattic cut 16% of its workforce.
