Automattic confirms Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted ouster by board
TechCrunch
β’Sat, 12 Sep 2026 23:25:38 +0000
π° What Happened
Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress, is back as CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, after the board voted to put him on paid leave. Automattic said he is chairman and CEO with the board's full support. The board had named chief financial officer Mark Davies as interim CEO. Mullenweg removed other admins from the company Slack and told staff he was back in charge.
π The Backstory
He said this was probably the fifth time he had faced a coup. He did not give a normal comment: a promised blog post turned out to be about buying a houseboat, and he told a reporter he was not a troll but a pirate. Reports said board member Toni Schneider had stepped down. Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic, now leads Bluesky. The board's make-up was said to still be changing.
π― Why It Matters
WordPress runs a huge share of the world's websites, so fights at the top can affect the tools millions of people use to publish online.
Matt Mullenweg, the founder of WordPress, is back as CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, after the board voted to put him on paid leave. Automattic said he is chairman and CEO with the board's full support. The board had named chief financial officer Mark Davies as interim CEO. Mullenweg removed other admins from the company Slack and told staff he was back in charge.
He said this was probably the fifth time he had faced a coup. He did not give a normal comment: a promised blog post turned out to be about buying a houseboat, and he told a reporter he was not a troll but a pirate. Reports said board member Toni Schneider had stepped down. Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic, now leads Bluesky. The board's make-up was said to still be changing.
WordPress runs a huge share of the world's websites, so fights at the top can affect the tools millions of people use to publish online.