Automattic Board Forces CEO Matt Mullenweg Into Involuntary Leave
TL;DR
- Automattic's board has placed co-founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg on involuntary leave following an escalating governance rift, appointing interim leadership while it conducts an independent review.
- A leaked internal Slack message from Mullenweg blasting the board as "disloyal" and "fundamentally misunderstanding open source" has exposed deep divisions over lawsuits, spending, and Tumblr's future.
- The shakeup throws Automattic, WordPress.org, and Tumblr into uncertainty, with employees, volunteers, and enterprise customers all bracing for a potential change in direction.
The Vote That Stunned Silicon Valley and Open Source
In a move almost unthinkable in the WordPress world, Automattic's board of directors has forced CEO and co-founder Matt Mullenweg into involuntary leave.
According to multiple reports circulating this week, the decision came after an emergency board meeting in late August, where directors voted to sideline Mullenweg pending an independent investigation into governance, workplace culture, and stewardship of company resources. The company has not yet filed a public statement with full details, but staff were informed in an all-hands memo that Mullenweg will have no day-to-day operational authority during the leave period.
Sources close to the company describe the vote as narrow but decisive, driven by investor-directors and independent members increasingly alarmed by a year of legal battles, public feuds, and staff attrition. For a founder who has been synonymous with Automattic since founding it in 2005, the rebuke marks the most serious challenge to his authority ever.
Inside Mullenweg's Explosive Slack Message
What turned a quiet boardroom dispute into a full-blown crisis was Mullenweg himself.
Hours after being notified of the decision, Mullenweg posted a lengthy, emotional message in Automattic's company-wide Slack #general channel, a message that was quickly screenshotted and leaked. In it, he framed the board's action as a coup and accused directors of betraying the mission of democratizing publishing.
In the message, Mullenweg reportedly wrote that the board was punishing him for defending WordPress against exploitation, and warned employees not to trust interim leadership to protect the open web. He described himself as heartbroken but defiant, urging loyal staff to keep building and suggesting he would fight to return.
The tone stunned even longtime employees. While some rallied behind him with heart emojis and messages of support, others described the post as divisive and inappropriate for a CEO on leave. One staffer quoted anonymously said it felt like drawing battle lines inside the company. Automattic's HR and legal teams swiftly locked the thread and reminded staff not to share internal communications, but by then the damage was done.
Why The Board Finally Acted
The Slack outburst was the spark, not the cause. Tensions between Mullenweg and the board have been building for nearly two years.
At the center is Mullenweg's increasingly personal and costly war with WP Engine, the major WordPress hosting company. What began as a dispute over trademark use and contributions to open source spiraled into dueling lawsuits, a controversial ban on WP Engine's access to WordPress.org, and a polarizing contributor alignment program that asked Automattic employees to choose sides. Directors grew concerned about mounting legal bills, reputational damage, and enterprise customer churn.
Financial pressures added fuel. Tumblr, acquired in 2019 for a bargain price, has continued to burn cash despite multiple turnaround attempts, including a much-delayed migration to WordPress infrastructure and experiments with ActivityPub and paid features. Meanwhile, Automattic's bets on WooCommerce, Jetpack, Day One, and AI-powered tools like Telex have faced stiffer competition from Shopify, Substack, and AI-native startups.
Former and current employees also point to governance concerns: Mullenweg simultaneously serving as CEO of Automattic, head of WordPress.org and the WordPress Foundation, and owner of key trademarks created inherent conflicts the board could no longer ignore.
Fallout For Automattic
Inside Automattic, the mood is described as anxious and fractured.
Interim leadership — reportedly led by a combination of longtime executives and board oversight — has moved quickly to reassure the company's roughly 1,200 distributed employees that salaries, remote-work policies, and roadmaps remain intact. But questions loom over hiring freezes, the future of the company's controversial alignment resignations last year that saw over 150 staff depart, and whether ongoing litigation strategy will soften without Mullenweg at the helm.
Some employees loyal to Mullenweg view the board as corporate outsiders gutting open-source ideals. Others quietly welcome a reset, hoping for more transparent management and less founder-driven drama. Startup investors are watching closely, as any prolonged leadership vacuum could complicate a future liquidity event or valuation for the company last valued at over $7 billion.
What It Means For WordPress
No ecosystem feels the shockwaves more than WordPress, which powers more than 40% of the web.
Mullenweg is not just Automattic's CEO — he is the co-creator of WordPress, the leader of WordPress.org, and president of the WordPress Foundation. His leave from Automattic does not automatically remove him from those open-source roles, creating a bizarre split where the face of WordPress is sidelined from his own company.
Community reactions have been split. Independent developers and agency owners exhausted by last year's WordPress.org access blocks and plugin takeover controversies see an opening for more neutral governance. Others fear paralysis in core development, security releases, and the Gutenberg roadmap if leadership is in limbo.
Crucially, the WordPress Foundation and community contributors could push for structural separation between Automattic commercial interests and WordPress.org infrastructure — a reform advocates have demanded for years.
Tumblr Caught In The Crossfire
Tumblr, the beloved blogging platform Automattic promised to save and reimagine, is once again facing an identity crisis.
Staff working on Tumblr's long-promised backend migration to WordPress and its fediverse integrations now report confusion about priorities and funding. With Mullenweg — Tumblr's most vocal champion inside Automattic — on leave, some fear the platform could face cuts, a sale, or benign neglect as interim leaders focus on profitable units like WooCommerce, WordPress.com VIP, and Jetpack.
Tumblr's passionate user base, already sensitive after years of ownership changes from Yahoo to Verizon to Automattic, has reacted with a mix of memes and dread. Creators worry about moderation, product stagnation, and whether a new CEO would even want a culturally unique but loss-making social network.
Who Could Lead Next
The biggest question now: is Mullenweg coming back?
The board has framed the leave as temporary and precautionary during its review, leaving the door open for reinstatement, a negotiated return with reduced powers, or a permanent separation. Legal experts say much will depend on Mullenweg's super-voting shares, board seats, and control of Automattic and the WordPress Foundation's intellectual property — structures that make truly ousting a founder extremely difficult.
Names floated internally and externally for interim or permanent leadership include veteran Automattic executives from the WooCommerce and Enterprise divisions, as well as outside open-source executives. Whoever takes over will need to navigate three impossible jobs at once: calming staff, repairing relationships with hosts and the WordPress community, and proving Automattic can grow without burning its founder's goodwill.
For now, Silicon Valley and the open web are holding their breath. If Mullenweg fights the board and wins, Automattic could return to founder-first defiance. If the board holds firm, September 2026 may be remembered as the week WordPress finally outgrew its creator.
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