Matt Mullenweg tells Automattic staff in Slack he’s back in control after CEO ouster
Matt Mullenweg has claimed he is back in control as CEO of Automattic following a brief and disputed ouster by the company's board. The situation remains fluid as the company has not officially confirmed the board's status, and internal communications suggest significant organizational turmoil.
Why it matters
As the parent company of WordPress, Automattic's leadership stability impacts a massive portion of the internet's infrastructure and open-source ecosystem.
Matt Mullenweg has posted a message to Automattic’s Slack, claiming he is back in control as CEO of the WordPress.com parent company, according to a screenshot of the message seen by TechCrunch, which was confirmed by two sources. The post arrives only days after Automattic’s board voted to oust Mullenweg as CEO for unknown reasons.
Automattic has been asked to confirm if Mullenweg’s statement is true, but has not yet responded to a request for comment. Mullenweg responded to our inquiry, saying a blog post is forthcoming. This story is still developing.
On Wednesday, the WordPress founder and a key advocate for the open source community told his team via Slack that Automattic’s board members had “conspired” behind his back by voting to p ut him on a paid leave of absence . The company’s chief financial officer, Mark Davies, was made interim CEO in the process, Mullenweg said.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in