Mullenweg returns as Automattic CEO after board's ouster attempt
WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg is back as chairman and CEO of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, after a chaotic week in which its own board tried to remove him. Automattic's board voted earlier in the week to place Mullenweg on paid leave of absence, for reasons the company never made public. The move appeared to catch Mullenweg off guard: he posted on Automattic's Slack accusing board members of 'conspiring' against him. By Wednesday, Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that Mullenweg was 'currently on leave' and that its Chief Financial Officer, Mark Davies, would take over as interim CEO with the board's 'full confidence.'
Mullenweg did not step aside quietly. According to multiple sources who spoke to TechCrunch, he booted other administrators out of the company's Slack, told employees that everything had been worked out and that he was back in control, and posted, 'I'm a pirate now,' along with a curse, something the outlet says was out of character for him. He also wrote in Slack, 'If this is an HR problem, please wrangle me in since my normal wranglers are with Mark Davies.'
When TechCrunch asked Mullenweg directly whether his claims of being back as CEO were legitimate, he promised a blog post was coming; when it appeared, it was about him buying a houseboat. Asked whether his comments about returning had themselves been a troll, he replied, 'I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously.' Mullenweg gave no official on-record comment addressing his return, though he noted on X that this was likely the fifth time he has faced a 'coup.'
The standoff was resolved, at least publicly, just after 5 PM ET on Saturday, when an Automattic spokesperson told TechCrunch: '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.' TechCrunch notes that the cited online support appears to consist of posts on X that Mullenweg has been reposting from his own account, and no formal board vote or action reinstating him is described beyond the spokesperson's statement. Loose ends remain: Automattic did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Friday, including on reports that board member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic who now leads Bluesky, is stepping down; Schneider himself did not respond to requests for comment at his personal email or through Bluesky either. TechCrunch says it is continuing to ask Automattic about this and other potential changes to the board's makeup, which it is hearing may still be in flux.
Key facts
- Automattic's board voted earlier in the week to place founder Matt Mullenweg on paid leave for reasons the company never disclosed, and by Wednesday named CFO Mark Davies interim CEO with the board's 'full confidence.'
- Mullenweg refused to step back: he retook Slack admin access, removed other admins, told staff he was back in control, and posted 'I'm a pirate now' along with a curse, which TechCrunch says was out of character for him.
- Asked directly whether he was legitimately back as CEO, Mullenweg gave no on-record confirmation, instead promising a blog post that turned out to be about buying a houseboat, and later telling TechCrunch, 'I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously.'
- By Saturday evening an Automattic spokesperson told TechCrunch that Mullenweg remains chairman and CEO 'with full support of the board,' though no formal board vote or action reinstating him is described, only the spokesperson's statement and Mullenweg's own reposts of supportive posts on X.
- Automattic did not respond to requests for comment on reports that board member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of the company who now leads Bluesky, is stepping down; TechCrunch says other changes to the board's composition may still be in flux.
Why it matters
A company's own board tried to remove its founder as CEO and, within days, appeared to lose that fight in full public view: the standoff played out over Slack messages, social media posts and a TechCrunch reporter's direct exchanges with the man at the center of it, rather than in a boardroom statement or a public filing. Automattic's board placed Matt Mullenweg, WordPress's founder and Automattic's chairman and CEO, on paid leave for reasons the company never disclosed, and named CFO Mark Davies interim CEO with the board's 'full confidence.' Mullenweg refused to accept it and retook control of the company's Slack instead. Mullenweg himself has framed the episode as likely his fifth such 'coup,' suggesting this kind of friction is a recurring pattern for him rather than a one-off.
Who it affects
The dispute concerns the leadership of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com. Those directly named are Matt Mullenweg himself; Mark Davies, Automattic's CFO, who briefly held the interim CEO title before Mullenweg's return; and the company's board, whose full composition TechCrunch says may still be changing. Board member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic who now leads Bluesky, is separately the subject of unconfirmed reports that he is stepping down.
How to use it
There is no product, service or setting for readers to act on here. For anyone following Automattic or the WordPress ecosystem, the practical read is that the company's leadership is unsettled rather than cleanly resolved: the spokesperson's statement affirms Mullenweg's title but does not describe a formal board action restoring it, the board's own composition may still change, and Automattic has not answered further questions, including about Schneider's status. Treat 'Mullenweg is back' as the company's current public position rather than as proof that the underlying boardroom conflict has actually been settled.
How solid is it
The account rests on TechCrunch's own reporting: an on-record statement from an Automattic spokesperson, quoted directly; unnamed sources describing what happened inside the company's Slack; and TechCrunch's own direct exchanges with Mullenweg. Several parts remain unconfirmed. No formal board vote or action reinstating Mullenweg is described anywhere in the report, only the spokesperson's statement, and no reason was ever given for the board's original decision to place him on leave. The report that board member Toni Schneider is stepping down comes from unnamed sources TechCrunch says it heard from, and neither Schneider nor Automattic responded to confirm or deny it; Automattic also did not respond to repeated requests for comment on Friday. No vote count, board size or names of other board members besides Schneider are given.
Risks and caveats
The number of administrators Mullenweg removed from the company's Slack is not stated, nor is any timeline for further changes to the board, which TechCrunch says it is hearing may still be in flux. Mullenweg never gave an on-record comment specifically confirming his return; asked directly, he pointed to a promised blog post that turned out to be about buying a houseboat, then told TechCrunch, when asked if he had been trolling, 'I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously.' The tone throughout reads as an unresolved personal and workplace conflict still playing out in public rather than a tidy corporate resolution: pirate jokes, cursing that TechCrunch calls out of character for him, and a Slack message asking HR to 'wrangle me in.'
“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”
— Automattic company spokesperson, in a statement to TechCrunch