Power Struggle at Automattic: Inside the Sudden Ousting of WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg

Executive Overview

In a stunning corporate coup that has sent shockwaves through the global tech industry and the open-source community, Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress and long-time CEO of its commercial parent company, Automattic, has been placed on an involuntary paid leave of absence. The decision, executed by Automattic’s board of directors, marks a dramatic and highly contentious chapter for a company that powers a vast portion of the modern web.

According to internal communications obtained by investigative journalists, the board voted to sideline Mullenweg against his express wishes, instantly naming Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mark Davies as interim Chief Executive Officer. The move follows a year of escalating operational instability, severe staff cuts, and a highly publicized, scorched-earth legal war waged by Mullenweg against WordPress hosting competitor WP Engine—a crusade that alienated employees, developers, and corporate allies alike.

While Mullenweg remains a member of Automattic’s board of directors and continues to hold his leadership position at the non-profit, open-source WordPress.org project, his executive authority at the commercial arm has been entirely stripped. Inside the company, the reaction has been a volatile mix of relief, ecstasy, and deep anxiety over what this leadership vacuum portends for the future of Automattic and the broader WordPress ecosystem.

Detailed Chronology

The Wednesday Slack Bombshell

The corporate drama spilled into the open on a Wednesday afternoon when Mullenweg posted a highly charged message in an all-company Slack channel. In the post, which was visible to Automattic’s global workforce, Mullenweg accused his executive team and board members of executing a coordinated, backroom coup.

"And the biggest news: I won’t be able to make the [meeting] tomorrow. @Mark Davies has conspired with @Ann Dunwoody, @Toni, and @Sue Decker behind my back and they voted to put me on a paid leave of absence. I voted against that. Wishing Mark and all of you the very best.

To clarify @Mark Davies was voted as interim CEO. I received the resolution 50 minutes before the meeting start, and requested repeatedly for time to have it reviewed by independent legal counsel, even a few hours, which was denied."

The message painted a picture of a sudden, highly orchestrated maneuver. By naming board members Ann Dunwoody (a retired U.S. Army General), Toni Schneider (Automattic’s former CEO from 2006 to 2014), and Sue Decker (former President of Yahoo), Mullenweg laid bare the deep fractures at the absolute top of the company’s governance structure.

A Denied Request for Counsel

Mullenweg’s disclosure that he was served the board’s resolution a mere 50 minutes before the scheduled meeting suggests that the board sought to prevent him from organizing a legal or procedural defense. His repeated requests for a brief delay—even just a few hours to consult independent legal counsel—were flatly denied by the board majority.

Within minutes of the post, former CEO Toni Schneider confirmed to internal sources that the action was initiated entirely by the board of directors. Soon after, interim CEO Mark Davies addressed employees in the same Slack channel, attempting to project stability while confirming that Mullenweg had indeed been stripped of his operational duties but technically remained on the company’s board of directors.

The WordPress.org Separation

As panic began to ripple through the open-source community, Mary Hubbard, the Executive Director of the open-source WordPress.org project, issued a clarifying statement to reassure developers and contributors. Hubbard confirmed Mullenweg’s change of status at the commercial company (Automattic) but emphasized that the open-source foundation remained legally and operationally distinct.

"Matt remains the leader of the WordPress project and I remain Executive Director of WordPress," Hubbard wrote. "Our teams, priorities, and work continue as planned."

Despite these assurances, the bifurcation of Mullenweg’s roles—ousted from the commercial engine but still commanding the open-source project—creates an unprecedented governance crisis for the software that powers over 40% of all websites on the internet.

Supporting Context & Metrics

To understand the board’s drastic intervention, one must examine the turbulent 18-month period leading up to the ouster. Mullenweg’s leadership style, once celebrated for its remote-first progressivism, had increasingly devolved into what critics described as an erratic, highly personal crusade that threatened Automattic’s financial health and brand equity.

The War with WP Engine

The catalyst for the board’s growing impatience was undoubtedly Automattic’s bitter, protracted legal battle with WP Engine, a major WordPress hosting provider backed by private equity giant Silver Lake.

                       CHRONOLOGY OF THE WP ENGINE CONFLICT

   September 2024               October 2024               February 2025
  ────────────────             ──────────────             ───────────────
  Mullenweg demands            WP Engine sues             WP Engine files
  8% gross royalty             Automattic for             court docs claiming
  from WP Engine;              defamation &               Automattic plans to
  accuses them of              abuse of power.            target 10 more
  freeriding.                  Automattic counters.       competitors.

The conflict escalated rapidly:

• The Royalty Demand: Mullenweg publicly demanded that WP Engine pay 8% of its monthly gross revenue as a royalty fee for utilizing the trademarked "WordPress" brand, despite years of quiet coexistence.
• The Lawsuit: WP Engine retaliated in October 2024, filing a federal lawsuit accusing Automattic and Mullenweg personally of defamation, trademark abuse, and abuse of power.
• The Counterclaims: Automattic filed counterclaims, digging in for an expensive, multi-year legal war.
• The Expansion: In February 2025, court filings revealed allegations by WP Engine that Automattic intended to target at least ten other competitors with similar royalty demands, threatening to destabilize the entire commercial WordPress hosting ecosystem.

Internal Exodus and Financial Strain

The external legal wars quickly translated into internal chaos. Mullenweg’s single-minded focus on the WP Engine dispute created immense friction within Automattic’s workforce.

• The 2024 Buyouts: In late 2024, Mullenweg issued an extraordinary ultimatum to his employees: support his crusade against WP Engine or take a severance package and resign. Ultimately, 159 employees (approximately 8.4% of the company’s workforce) chose to walk out the door, stripping the company of vital engineering and support talent.
• The April 2025 Layoffs: The talent drain was followed by severe financial restructuring. In April 2025, Automattic abruptly laid off 16% of its remaining staff. The cuts did not spare veterans, targeting employees who had been with the company for over a decade, signaling deep structural and cash-flow pressures.

The "Burning Man" Factor and Employee Sentiment

Inside Automattic, speculation regarding the timing of the board’s coup has centered on Mullenweg’s annual pilgrimage to the Burning Man festival, which concluded on September 7. Historically, employees noted that Mullenweg would return from the desert "filled with ideas" that often translated into abrupt, sweeping organizational pivots.

For some board members and executives, the prospect of another post-Burning Man strategic disruption, on top of ongoing litigation and a freshly laid-off workforce, may have been the breaking point.

Reacting to the news of his ouster, current and former employees expressed highly polarized emotions. "Some alumni have been reaching out to check on us," an internal source shared. "The sentiment is split. Some people are absolutely ecstatic or relieved that the chaos might finally end. Others are terrified because Matt was Automattic, and this level of instability at the top could ruin the company’s valuation."

Official Statements

The public and internal communications issued by the respective parties reveal a stark division in narratives, with Mullenweg alleging a hostile conspiracy and the board emphasizing corporate continuity and institutional trust.

From Matt Mullenweg (via internal Slack):

"I received the resolution 50 minutes before the meeting start, and requested repeatedly for time to have it reviewed by independent legal counsel, even a few hours, which was denied… Mark Davies has conspired with Ann Dunwoody, Toni, and Sue Decker behind my back."

From Automattic (Official corporate statement):

"Matt Mullenweg is currently on leave from Automattic. Mark Davies, Automattic’s CFO, will lead the company as interim CEO. The Board has full confidence in Mark’s leadership and in the team’s ability to execute against the company’s priorities."

From Mary Hubbard (Executive Director, WordPress.org):

"Matt remains the leader of the WordPress project and I remain Executive Director of WordPress. Our teams, priorities, and work continue as planned. WordPress.org is not impacted by these commercial leadership changes."

Future Outlook

The sidelining of Matt Mullenweg marks the end of an era for Automattic, but it raises a host of complex, existential questions for the future of the company, its products, and the broader internet infrastructure.

                         AUTOMATTIC'S DUAL PATH FORWARD

          Operational Track                        Open-Source Track
   ┌──────────────────────────────┐        ┌──────────────────────────────┐
   │  • CFO Mark Davies as CEO    │        │  • Matt Mullenweg remains    │
   │  • Focus on cost control     │        │    head of WordPress.org     │
   │  • Potential litigation settlement    │  • Risk of fork/community    │
   │  • Stabilize Tumblr/Woo      │        │    rebellion remains         │
   └──────────────────────────────┘        └──────────────────────────────┘

1. The Fate of the WP Engine Litigation

With Mark Davies—a financially conservative CFO—now at the helm, industry analysts expect Automattic to seek an off-ramp from its aggressive litigation strategy. The board’s coup was likely motivated, in part, by a desire to salvage Automattic’s reputation among enterprise clients and stop the bleeding of legal fees. A settlement with WP Engine, once unthinkable under Mullenweg’s stubborn stewardship, now appears to be a distinct and logical possibility.

2. The Open-Source Governance Crisis

While the board successfully removed Mullenweg from the commercial entity, they cannot easily strip him of his influence over the open-source WordPress.org project. Because Mullenweg personally owns key intellectual property and maintains direct control over the repository infrastructure, a cold war could emerge between a newly stabilized, corporate Automattic and an embittered Mullenweg commanding the open-source developer community.

If Mullenweg chooses to use his remaining influence at WordPress.org to retaliate against Automattic, it could trigger a permanent "fork" of the WordPress software, dividing the developer ecosystem into competing, incompatible factions.

3. Stabilizing the Product Portfolio

Interim CEO Mark Davies faces the monumental task of restoring employee morale and stabilizing Automattic’s diverse and struggling portfolio, which includes Tumblr, WooCommerce, and Pocket Casts. Tumblr, in particular, has long been a financial drain, while WooCommerce faces intense pressure from Shopify.

To survive, Automattic must pivot away from public-relations wars and refocus its resources on product innovation and engineering excellence. Whether Davies can transition from a cost-cutting CFO to a visionary tech leader remains the defining question for Automattic’s survival in a post-Mullenweg era.