In a stunning leadership shake-up at Automattic, the company’s board of directors has voted to place founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence and appoint CFO Mark Davies as interim CEO.
Mullenweg confirmed the news himself in an internal Slack message, saying that Davies had “conspired” with Automattic board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker before the vote.
“They voted to put me on a paid leave of absence. I voted against that.”
Mullenweg said he received the resolution just 50 minutes before the board meeting was scheduled to begin. He said he repeatedly asked for time to have the decision reviewed by independent legal counsel, but the request was denied.
The decision was first reported by 404 Media. The board has not publicly explained why it decided to remove Mullenweg from the CEO role or how long his leave will last.
The timing, however, comes after nearly two years of turmoil surrounding Automattic including Mullenweg’s increasingly public conflict with WP Engine and the ongoing litigation, employee layoffs, and the takeover of WP Engine’s Advanced Custom Fields plugin.
Mark Davies appointed interim CEO
Following the board vote, Automattic CFO Mark Davies was appointed interim CEO. In the Slack channel, Davies confirmed that Mullenweg would remain on Automattic’s board during the leave and he would continue to have a role in the company’s decision-making.
“He (Matt) will have a voice in setting direction and making decisions.”
Davies also thanked Mullenweg for his support and said he intended to support Mullenweg, the board, Automattic, and its customers during the transition. “It will take me some time to come up to speed, but we’ll move forward with transparency, communication, and teamwork.” Davies said that nothing would change as a result of Mullenweg’s leave.
Board member Toni Schneider similarly told employees that the board had asked Mullenweg to step away from his CEO role and take a leave of absence. “We’ve worked closely with Mark over the years and we’re confident he will steer the ship well while Matt is away,” Schneider wrote.
Mullenweg has previously said that he controls 84% of the voting power at Automattic. That might make the board’s decision appear surprising, but shareholder voting power and board voting power are separate.
The WordPress project is expected to continue as usual
The immediate question for the WordPress community is whether the change at Automattic will affect the WordPress project. Mary Hubbard, Executive Director of WordPress, moved quickly to address those concerns in #Announcements WordPress Slack channel.
“It has been leaked that there has been a change in Matt’s role at Automattic. This change does not impact the leadership or direction of the WordPress project: Matt remains the leader of the WordPress project and I remain Executive Director of WordPress. Our teams, priorities, and work continue as planned.”
Automattic’s valuation has faced pressure
The leadership shake-up comes after a period in which Automattic’s valuation has come under scrutiny. Automattic remains a private company, so its current market value is not publicly established in the same way as a publicly traded company. However, changes in the value assigned to Automattic shares held by investors have provided some indication of how the company’s valuation has shifted.
TechCrunch reported in December 2024 that BlackRock had marked down its investment in Automattic from $41.70 earlier that year to $37.50. In June 2025, Delta reported another reduction, saying BlackRock’s valuation of its Automattic shares had fallen to just 36.5% of the company’s 2021 Series E valuation.
Mullenweg’s first public reaction
As the news began spreading across the WordPress community and on X, Mullenweg appeared to initially respond with humor.
“I’ve been in meetings all day, what’d I miss? Is there a new iPhone?” he tweeted.
He later explained that he had lost access to Automattic’s internal systems.
“usually I write all this stuff in internal systems but I don’t have access to those so y’all will have to deal with my logorrhea,” he wrote.
Mullenweg also said he was looking to quickly hire system administrators and security researchers, specifically excluding Automattic employees from consideration.
A divided community
The news has triggered a strong reaction from the WordPress community. Some have compared Mullenweg’s sudden removal with Steve Jobs’ ouster from Apple, while others have described the development as something they believe should have happened much earlier.
Matt Medeiros has published a YouTube video sharing his thoughts while James Welbes (owner of Apex Branding & Design), summed up the situation best as he described it as “the single greatest piece of WordPress related news I’ve seen in like a decade.”
Whatever their view of Mullenweg, however, few would dispute the significance of the board’s decision. He has been synonymous with Automattic since its founding and has been its most visible leader for more than two decades.
Automattic has not publicly explained why its board decided to place Mullenweg on leave, and there is currently no indication of how long the leave will last. It is also unclear whether Mullenweg is expected to return as CEO or whether Davies’ appointment could eventually become permanent.
The next few weeks could reveal whether this is a temporary leadership intervention or the beginning of a much more significant change at Automattic.