Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence

Post by boutell » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 11:59 AM UTC

pwillia7 wrote: post #218

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like it's something that must have been painful, all around. Boards really don't like doing things like this, as it signals instability, and shareholders hate instability. That's why so many boards leave clearly non-optimal CEOs in place, so often. This is not something that has been a focus of my attention, except when it was shoved into my face. I'm really too old for that kind of agita. I do run a couple of…

Just vibe code your own mini cms on top of your static site. Seriously though, I did this recently with mine and have had great results. It's not a Gutenberg WP experience, more like a decapCMS kind of thing.

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 12:09 PM UTC

flomo wrote: post #142

dofm wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He is surely very evidently mentally ill. This is a man who, to be fair to him, has been beneficially bullish and iconoclastic in the WP community's favour for decades, as well as writing a big chunk of what was "early modern" WP. Before he came unglued. The fact that he looked, sounded, talked the way he did, was involved, put his own money where his mouth is, and was press-available to the extent he was is a lot of…

> He is surely very evidently mentally ill. I agree and upvoted your post. But can I just say that it is super-reddit to diagnose someone based on your B- undergrad psych classes. We should go back to the classics like "he went off his rocker!", or "he's totally unhinged!" or "completely delulu!" (of course the people who know, know, and they shouldn't tell you.)

Post by toyg » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 12:25 PM UTC

graemep wrote: post #188

garbagepatch wrote: post #13

Here is the whole saga until May 2025: https://gist.github.com/adrienne/aea9dd7ca19c8985157d9c42f7f...

That lead me to a number of good sources, especially this: https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/09/24/automattic-vs-wp-engine/ which links to a lot more I already knew Matt was throwing a tantrum and refusing to address conflicts of interest. However WP Engine also do not come out of it looking good. Nor do a lot of people in the WP community. Matt is a problem, but it does not look like he is the only problem.

Post by jcarrano » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 12:38 PM UTC

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #213

Shank wrote: post #2

> “And the biggest news: I won't be able to make the ELT tomorrow,” Matt wrote in an Announcement Slack. He continued, writing that Mark Davies, current Automattic Chief Financial Officer, has “conspired” with Automattic Board of Directors members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker “behind my back and they voted to put me on a paid leave of absence. I voted against that.” If you’re doing this type of accusa…

Sounds like it's something that must have been painful, all around. Boards really don't like doing things like this, as it signals instability, and shareholders hate instability. That's why so many boards leave clearly non-optimal CEOs in place, so often. This is not something that has been a focus of my attention, except when it was shoved into my face. I'm really too old for that kind of agita. I do run a couple of…

Post by mstkllah » Thu, Sep 10, 2026, 12:47 PM UTC

mrcwinn wrote: post #140

This is fantastic news. Matt is an ass and unfit to lead a small HOA, let alone a company and open source project.