Mullenweg announces return to Automattic after forced leave
On Wednesday, the board of directors of the owner of WordPress.com removed the founder from running the company. Today, Matt Mullenweg wrote to employees that he is back in control, but Automattic has not confirmed it.
Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO of Automattic, wrote this morning on the company Slack that the board of directors “is aligned again” and that he has regained control of the company. Automattic owns WordPress.com, Tumblr and WooCommerce. The company did not respond to TechCrunch’s requests to confirm these words. According to TechCrunch’s sources, the Slack account of interim CEO Mark Davies was deactivated.
On Wednesday, September 9, the board of directors voted to place Mullenweg on paid leave. The news was first reported by 404 Media. Mullenweg wrote to employees that CFO Mark Davies had reached an agreement behind his back with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider and Sue Decker. He himself voted against it. He claims he received the draft resolution 50 minutes before the meeting, and his requests for time to consult an independent lawyer were rejected. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that Mullenweg is on leave and that Davies is temporarily running the company. No reason for the decision was given.
The decision came during a court dispute with WP Engine, a rival hosting company that runs WordPress websites. WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg in October 2024. In turn, on July 28, 2026, it filed a motion for sanctions, alleging failure to preserve evidence. According to Techstrong, Automattic rejects those allegations, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for October 1. Mullenweg suggested on X and Reddit that Silver Lake, a private equity fund (investing in company stakes) and WP Engine’s majority shareholder, is behind the attempt to remove him. No one has confirmed that claim.
The changes in the company do not affect the open source project WordPress. A large share of company websites runs on this software. WordPress.org executive director Mary Hubbard told the community that Mullenweg remains the project leader and that the teams and work plans are not changing. Today she wrote on X that she is happy about his return as CEO of Automattic. There is still no official company position on who is in charge.