The news
The Automattic board has a new lineup. On September 25, chief executive Matt Mullenweg announced four new directors to staff at the WordPress.com and WooCommerce owner, about two weeks after the previous board tried and failed to place him on paid leave, TechCrunch reported.
The confrontation began on September 9, when the board voted to put Mullenweg on paid leave and named chief financial officer Mark Davies interim chief executive, according to TechCrunch. On September 12, Automattic confirmed that Mullenweg was chairman and chief executive with the board's full support, saying he had been away for 33 hours and 20 minutes. TechCrunch reported he regained control partly by removing other administrators from the company's Slack and telling staff he had been reinstated.
The new directors are science-fiction author Hugh Howey, known for the Silo series; Amy Chan, author of Breakup Bootcamp; and Henry Khachatryan and Krutal Desai, co-founders of the social app IRL. Former Whoop chief technology officer Jaime Waydo, June co-founder Matt Van Horn and KISSmetrics co-founder Hiten Shah join as advisers. TechCrunch noted that IRL shut down after investigations found that nearly all of its users were bots; Techzine reported that the shutdown came in 2023.
Several people tied to the attempted leave are gone. TechCrunch reported that founding chief executive Toni Schneider, now chief executive of Bluesky, and Sue Decker resigned from the board, that retired General Ann Dunwoody was removed, and that Davies and chief legal officer Andy Missan were terminated. Techzine, citing TechCrunch, reported that Mullenweg now holds the titles of chief executive, president, treasurer and secretary.
Mullenweg controls 84% of Automattic's voting rights, a figure he stated in 2024, according to Techzine. In a statement to TechCrunch, he said: “The next six months will determine the next 20 years of Automattic.” The board did not disclose why it sought to put him on leave, TechCrunch reported.
The numbers
- Mullenweg's share of voting rights (stated in 2024)
- 84%
- Time Mullenweg was on leave (per Automattic)
- 33 hours, 20 minutes
- New directors named
- 4
- New advisers named
- 3
Why CEOs should care
For businesses that run sites or online stores on WordPress.com or WooCommerce, the practical question is continuity. Automattic lost its chief financial officer and chief legal officer in the same month, and TechCrunch noted it remains in litigation with hosting company WP Engine over trademark use and open-source contribution expectations. Ask your account team who now leads finance and legal, whether support commitments or contract terms are changing, and whether product roadmaps you depend on have shifted.
For directors and investors, the episode is a case study in founder control. When one person holds 84% of voting rights, a board's ability to act against the chief executive is limited, and a failed attempt can cost directors their seats within days. Boards of founder-controlled companies should ask what their governance documents actually allow, whether independent directors have a clear escalation path, and how succession would work if the founder were unavailable.
Procurement and risk teams should add governance to vendor due diligence for critical software. Concentrated control is common at private software companies; what matters is whether your contracts protect you if leadership changes abruptly. Review data export rights, service-level commitments and termination terms now rather than during a crisis.
The bigger picture
Automattic's turmoil matters beyond one company because it owns WordPress.com and WooCommerce and is led by WordPress co-creator Mullenweg, and hosts, agencies and plugin makers build businesses around the WordPress ecosystem. A governance fight there adds uncertainty at a time when Automattic is also pushing into AI site building through products such as Spacefast, which TechCrunch mentioned in its coverage. The episode also shows how quickly a board can be reshaped when voting control is concentrated in the founder. For customers, the practical lesson is that governance risk at a privately held vendor can surface suddenly, with little public disclosure, and can change who signs contracts and resolves disputes within a matter of days.
What’s next
Watch for who Automattic appoints as chief financial officer and chief legal officer, for any change in how the new board discloses decisions to employees and partners, and for developments in the WP Engine case. Mullenweg's six-month framing suggests further strategic moves could come quickly, and customers should watch for whether Automattic publishes more detail about the board's committees and oversight.
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