AUTOMATTIC CEO MATT MULLENWEG PLACED ON PAID LEAVE BY BOARD

Matt Mullenweg, founder and chief executive of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, has been placed on a paid leave of absence after a board vote. Mullenweg stated in an internal Slack message that Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies had "conspired" with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker to vote for his removal from the chief executive role. Mullenweg voted against the decision. An Automattic company spokesperson confirmed that Mullenweg is currently on leave and will remain on the company's board.

Mark Davies will assume the interim chief executive role during Mullenweg's absence, according to the company statement. Board member Toni Schneider stated on the company's internal message board that the board had "decided to ask Matt to step away from his CEO role and take a leave of absence". The Automattic spokesperson said the board has "full confidence in Mark's leadership and in the team's ability to execute against the company's priorities". Mullenweg co-founded WordPress.org and has headed Automattic since 2014.

The decision follows a period of heightened public activity by Mullenweg in 2024, when he waged a public pressure campaign against a prominent WordPress host. That campaign divided the open-source community and led to an ongoing legal dispute. No statement from Mullenweg addressing the board's rationale for the leave of absence has been reported.