Matt Mullenweg claims he has returned as Automattic CEO
The Automattic founder said he had been reinstated two days after being placed on paid leave, but the company had not confirmed his formal return.
Matt Mullenweg has claimed he is back in control of Automattic, two days after the company’s board reportedly placed him on paid leave and appointed chief financial officer Mark Davies as interim chief executive.
In a Slack message seen by TechCrunch, Mullenweg said the board was “back in agreement” and that he was “in control of Automattic”. The Verge reported that Automattic had not confirmed whether he had formally resumed the CEO role.
Mullenweg had earlier told staff that the board voted to place him on paid leave, with Davies separately saying he would remain a board member, according to reporting cited by The Verge. An Automattic spokesperson had confirmed Davies’ interim appointment and said Mullenweg was on leave.
TechCrunch also reported that Davies’ Slack account had been deactivated and that Mullenweg removed all Automattic Slack administrators. The circumstances of the reported reversal, and the extent of any board agreement, remained unclear.
Mullenweg described the episode as a possible “coup” in posts on X. Automattic owns or operates WordPress.com, Tumblr and Beeper.
