Mullenweg Backs Board's Failed Automattic Coup

For a few days this week, Automattic looked like a company with a new leader. Its board had voted to place founder Matt Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence, and Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies was installed as interim CEO with the board's backing. By Saturday evening, that plan was gone.

Automattic issued a statement confirming Mullenweg is back in the top job, capping a week in which the CEO publicly refused to leave, removed other administrators from the company's Slack, and told employees the matter had been resolved. The board's vote to sideline him, and the reasons behind it, were never explained.

What the board actually voted on

According to TechCrunch, Automattic's board voted earlier in the week to put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence. The source article does not specify the grounds for the decision — it states the reasons were unknown. The move appears to have caught Mullenweg off guard, and he responded on Automattic's internal Slack by accusing board members of "conspiring" against him.

On Wednesday, Automattic confirmed the removal to TechCrunch. The company said Mullenweg was "currently on leave" and that Mark Davies, its chief financial officer, would serve as interim CEO with the board's "full confidence." That statement put the company on record: a sitting founder-CEO had been pushed aside, and an internal finance executive was now running the business.

Mullenweg's refusal to go quietly

The board's transition did not proceed as planned. Multiple sources told TechCrunch that Mullenweg effectively declined to depart. He booted other admins out of the company Slack and told employees that everything had been worked out and that he was back in control of Automattic.

His Slack messages from that period included a line that employees would not have expected from a CEO known for avoiding profanity. He wrote that he was "a pirate now," and he cursed. He also posted: "If this is an HR problem, please wrangle me in since my normal wranglers are with Mark Davies."

The source describes the cursing as notable because Mullenweg famously did not do it — a detail that underscores how far outside his usual conduct the episode ran.

The houseboat and the troll question

When TechCrunch asked Mullenweg whether his claims of being back as CEO were legitimate, he said a blog post was coming. The post, when it arrived, was about him buying a houseboat. TechCrunch then asked whether his comments about being back in control were also trolling. He replied: "I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously."

Mullenweg never issued an official comment confirming his return. On X, however, he noted that this was likely the fifth time he had faced a "coup." That remark, made on a social platform rather than through a company statement, was for a time the closest thing to an acknowledgment that the board's action was not sticking.

Saturday's statement arrives

The company's confirmation came by email just after 5 PM ET on Saturday evening. A 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."

— An Automattic spokesperson, in a statement to TechCrunch

The source notes that the reference to online support appears to point to supportive posts on X that Mullenweg has been reposting from his account. Automattic did not elaborate on the board's earlier vote, on why it was reversed, or on the status of the people who participated in it.

Silence on Friday and the board question

Before Saturday's statement, Automattic had not responded to repeated requests for comment on Friday. The company also did not respond to reports TechCrunch heard about board member Toni Schneider stepping down. Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic, now leads Bluesky. He did not return requests for comment sent to his personal email or via Bluesky.

TechCrunch has since asked Automattic again about Schneider and other changes to the board's composition, which it reports may still be in flux. As of the article's publication, those questions remained unanswered.

The week's sequence, in order

The episode unfolded over a handful of days, with each step reported by TechCrunch as it happened:

• Earlier in the week, Automattic's board voted to place Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence for reasons that were not disclosed.
• Mullenweg posted on Automattic's Slack accusing board members of "conspiring" against him.
• On Wednesday, Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that Mullenweg was "currently on leave" and that CFO Mark Davies would lead as interim CEO with the board's "full confidence."
• Multiple sources said Mullenweg declined to depart, removed other admins from the company Slack, and told employees he was back in control.
• On Friday, Automattic did not respond to repeated requests for comment, nor to reports about board member Toni Schneider stepping down.
• Just after 5 PM ET on Saturday, a company spokesperson confirmed Mullenweg had returned as chairman and CEO with the board's full support.

What remains unanswered

The source material leaves several central questions open. It does not state why the board voted to put Mullenweg on leave, what changed between Wednesday and Saturday to reverse that position, or whether any board members resigned, were removed, or remain in place. The report that Schneider may have stepped down was described as something TechCrunch heard, not as a confirmed departure.

The account also does not say whether the administrators Mullenweg removed from Slack were reinstated, whether Davies has returned to his CFO role, or how employees were informed of the final outcome. Automattic's only on-record statement about the resolution is the spokesperson's email confirming Mullenweg's position and pointing to public expressions of support.

It is also not clear from the source whether the board vote was formally rescinded or simply overtaken by events, given that Mullenweg never left the company's internal systems and continued to communicate with staff as its leader.

Why this matters beyond Automattic

Automattic sits behind WordPress.com, and the company's leadership turmoil played out in public view — on Slack, on X, and through a blog post about a houseboat that arrived in place of an official statement. For the businesses and developers who build on Automattic's platforms, the episode is a reminder that governance disputes at a parent company can surface with little advance notice and even less explanation.

The details here come from a single outlet's reporting, and Automattic has confirmed only the final outcome, not the events in between. A board that votes to remove a founder-CEO and then issues a statement days later affirming that same person's leadership with its "full support" leaves open questions that customers, partners, and employees may want answered — particularly about who is actually making decisions and whether the board's composition is stable. Until the company addresses those points, the clearest takeaway is procedural: a leadership change that looks settled on a Wednesday may not be settled by the weekend.