WordPress parent company Automattic has confirmed that founder Matt Mullenweg has returned as chairman and CEO, ending a chaotic week that saw the board attempt to remove him from power.
What Happened
Earlier this week, Automattic's board voted to place Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence for undisclosed reasons. The move appeared to catch Mullenweg off guard — he took to Automattic's internal Slack channel and accused board members of "conspiring" against him.
Automattic confirmed the removal to TechCrunch on Wednesday, saying Mullenweg was "currently on leave" and that Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies would serve as interim CEO with "full confidence" of the board.
The Counter-Coup
But the board's plan quickly unraveled. Rather than stepping aside, Mullenweg removed other administrators from the company Slack workspace and told employees everything had been resolved and he was back in control. Multiple sources confirmed these actions to TechCrunch.
In a now-notable Slack message, Mullenweg wrote: "I'm a pirate now" and used profanity — something he famously never did. He also wrote: "If this is an HR problem, please wrangle me in since my normal wranglers are with Mark Davies."
When TechCrunch asked Mullenweg if his claims about returning as CEO were legitimate, he promised a blog post was coming. When it arrived, however, it was about him buying a houseboat. When asked if his return claims were also him trolling, he replied: "I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously."
Mullenweg later noted on X that this was likely the fifth time he has faced a "coup" attempt.
The Aftermath
On Saturday evening, Automattic issued a statement confirming Mullenweg's return: "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."
The company did not respond to questions about other governance changes, including reports that founding board member Toni Schneider — who also leads Bluesky — had stepped down from the board.
Why It Matters
WordPress powers approximately 40% of all websites on the internet. The corporate governance drama at its parent company has significant implications for the open-source ecosystem. The attempted boardroom removal, followed by what amounted to a CEO counter-coup via Slack admin privileges, is an extraordinary episode in tech corporate governance.
The situation raises questions about the checks and balances at Automattic and whether the board has effective mechanisms to enforce its decisions when the founder retains operational control of internal systems.
