Matt Mullenweg Resumes Control of Automattic Following Brief and Turbulent Boardroom Ouster
The corporate landscape surrounding Automattic, the parent company behind WordPress.com and a primary contributor to the open-source WordPress project, has experienced a period of extreme volatility this week. Following a shock announcement on Wednesday, September 9, that saw company co-founder Matt Mullenweg placed on paid leave and stripped of his executive duties, a rapid series of events has culminated in his return to the helm. The restoration of Mullenweg’s position, however, has been marked by unusual communication patterns that have raised questions regarding the procedural nature of the transition and the internal stability of the organization.
A Chronology of the Leadership Crisis
The sequence of events began on Wednesday, September 9, when the Automattic Board of Directors convened a meeting that would fundamentally alter the company’s governance. According to reports, Mullenweg was provided with only 50 minutes of prior notification regarding the meeting. During this session, his request for a delay—specifically to allow for legal counsel to review the proposed actions—was reportedly denied.
The Board moved to place Mullenweg on indefinite paid leave, citing unspecified reasons for the decision. In his stead, the Board appointed Mark Davies, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, to serve as interim CEO. The company’s initial official statement was concise, clinical, and adhered to traditional corporate communication standards: "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."
The situation remained static for approximately 48 hours, during which time the company’s internal operations were reportedly managed by the interim leadership. However, by Friday, September 11, the narrative shifted dramatically. Despite being removed from his executive functions, Mullenweg maintained administrative access to the company’s internal Slack workspace. Utilizing this digital foothold, he purged several administrators and posted a series of messages claiming that he had resumed control of the company.
The Slack Takeover and Social Media Amplification
The digital maneuvering by Mullenweg created a bifurcated reality: while the Board had issued a formal announcement of his ouster, the company’s internal communications platform was being utilized by the founder to assert his continued authority. This led to a period of intense confusion among the workforce, often referred to as "Automatticians."
The uncertainty was further complicated by the vocal support of high-ranking ecosystem figures. Mary Hubbard, the Executive Director of the WordPress project, issued a public statement via social media, expressing relief at Mullenweg’s return and pledging her support. This endorsement served as a catalyst for a broader, coordinated campaign of support from within the company. Numerous employees took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice their allegiance to the co-founder. Mullenweg, capitalizing on this momentum, actively reposted these messages, creating a visible wave of internal support that effectively marginalized the narrative of his initial removal.
Analyzing the Final Official Statement
The resolution of this power struggle came on Saturday, September 12, just after 5:00 PM EST, when a second official communication was issued. This statement stood in stark contrast to the initial announcement from Wednesday. The updated statement read: "Matt Mullenweg is the chairman and CEO of Automattic, with full support of the board and if you search online you can see many top executives and Automatticians supporting him as well."
The stylistic shift between the two communications has become a subject of intense scrutiny among corporate governance experts and industry observers. The first statement, authored in a standard, third-person, formal corporate tone, carried the hallmarks of a vetted legal or public relations release. In contrast, the Saturday update was written in a first-person, conversational, and defensive tone. It lacked the structural polish of the previous release and explicitly directed readers to verify the company’s status by searching online—an unconventional instruction for an official corporate press release.
The deviation in tone has led many to speculate that the second statement may have been dictated or authored by Mullenweg himself rather than by the Board of Directors or the communications department. The inclusion of a run-on sentence that acts as a persuasive argument rather than a statement of fact suggests a shift in the power dynamic back to the founder, potentially bypassing standard corporate oversight processes.
Contextualizing Automattic’s Role in the Ecosystem
To understand the severity of this incident, one must consider the unique position Automattic holds in the digital economy. As the primary commercial entity behind WordPress, the software that powers over 40% of the world’s websites, Automattic acts as a steward of a massive portion of the internet’s infrastructure. Any instability at the executive level of such a company has far-reaching implications for web developers, enterprise clients, and the broader open-source community.
Automattic’s financial health and stability are tied directly to the WordPress project’s growth. The company’s revenue is generated through hosting, enterprise services (WordPress VIP), and a suite of plugins and tools. By placing the CEO on leave, the Board was signaling a potential crisis of confidence, which, had it continued, could have led to a mass exodus of talent or a decline in investor trust.
Broader Implications and Corporate Governance
The rapid, two-day turnaround from "ousted" to "reinstated" raises critical questions regarding the role of the Board of Directors at Automattic. In standard corporate governance, a board serves as the primary mechanism for oversight and accountability. If a board finds cause to remove a founder and CEO, that decision is usually the result of exhaustive deliberation and legal consensus.
The reversal of such a decision in under 72 hours—and the subsequent use of internal communication channels to assert control—suggests a breakdown in the conventional checks and balances expected in a multi-million-dollar corporation. The fact that an ousted CEO could regain control through a digital platform and secure a public reversal of a board decision is a rare occurrence in modern business, highlighting the singular influence Mullenweg maintains over the company’s culture and internal infrastructure.
Reactions and Future Outlook
While many employees, such as long-time contributor James Grierson, have expressed excitement for the "next 10 years" of the company, others in the broader tech sector remain cautious. The volatility of the past week has underscored the tension between the "founder-led" culture of many tech giants and the necessity of robust, objective board oversight.
For now, the situation appears to have stabilized with Mullenweg firmly back in the CEO seat. However, the questions surrounding the initial reasons for his leave, the justification for the Board’s rapid reversal, and the unusual nature of the final communication will likely continue to be points of discussion.
As Automattic moves forward, the primary challenge will be restoring a sense of normalcy and operational predictability. Whether the internal support for Mullenweg will be sufficient to mitigate any long-term reputational damage or concerns from the wider WordPress ecosystem remains to be seen. The company now enters a period of rebuilding, where the focus will likely shift toward clarifying the lines of authority and ensuring that such abrupt leadership transitions do not disrupt the critical infrastructure upon which so much of the internet depends. The events of September 2026 will undoubtedly be cited in future studies regarding founder-driven companies and the delicate balance of power within the modern boardroom.
