Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO of Automattic, has been placed on a paid leave of absence by the company’s board against his will, according to a Slack message seen by TechCrunch. The move was confirmed by Automattic in an emailed statement on September 9, 2026.
Mullenweg posted in a company-wide Slack channel that CFO Mark Davies had “conspired” with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker to vote him onto leave. He said he voted against the resolution, received it just 50 minutes before the meeting, and was denied time to have it reviewed by independent legal counsel. Davies has been named interim CEO. Automattic stated the board has “full confidence in Mark’s leadership.”
Mullenweg remains on Automattic’s board of directors and retains his role as leader of the open-source WordPress.org project, which the company says is unaffected. WordPress.org executive director Mary Hubbard confirmed that “our teams, priorities, and work continue as planned.”
Automattic, founded by Mullenweg in 2003, owns WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and Pocket Casts. The company has faced significant turbulence in recent years. It is engaged in a legal battle with WordPress hosting competitor WP Engine, which sued Automattic and Mullenweg in October 2024 for defamation and abuse of power after Mullenweg demanded WP Engine pay royalties for using the WordPress brand. In April 2025, Automattic laid off 16% of its staff. In 2024, Mullenweg told employees to resign with severance if they disagreed with his direction — 159 did.
The board has not publicly explained its reasoning. One source speculated the timing may relate to Mullenweg’s return from the Burning Man festival, which ended September 7, though this has not been confirmed. Some Automattic employees described the news as a relief, while others expressed mixed feelings over the added instability it may bring.
Source: TechCrunch