Automattic Founder Matt Mullenweg Reclaims Control After Board Ouster

Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg has claimed he is back "in control" of the company, as first reported by 404 Media and TechCrunch. The announcement came via a company-wide Slack channel on Thursday evening, less than 48 hours after Mullenweg announced he had been forcibly placed on a paid leave of absence by the company's board.

On Wednesday, Mullenweg informed staff that board members Sue Decker, Toni Schneider, and Ann Dunwoody had "conspired" with Automattic CFO Mark Davies to vote him out. Mullenweg alleged he was denied time to have the resolution reviewed by legal counsel. Following the move, an Automattic spokesperson confirmed to 404 Media that Davies would serve as interim CEO.

By Friday, sources told 404 Media and TechCrunch that Davies' Slack account had been deactivated. Mullenweg subsequently posted that the board was "back in agreement" and that he had regained control. While Mullenweg published a blog post on Friday regarding the purchase of a tugboat, 404 Media reports he did not further address his status at Automattic in that post.

This leadership volatility follows a period of internal instability. 404 Media reports that employees have described Mullenweg's leadership as chaotic, citing instances of petty trolling, watermarking messages to identify leakers, and "cultish loyalty checks." In 2024, Mullenweg implemented an "Alignment Offer" that allowed 159 employees to leave with either $30,000 or six months of pay if they disagreed with his stances. Automattic, which owns Tumblr, Pocket Casts, and WordPress.com, has also recently attempted to claim ownership of the word "automatic."