Automattic Names Entirely New Board After Matt Mullenweg Reverses Ouster Attempt

Automattic, the private company that runs WordPress.com, WordPress.org, WooCommerce, Tumblr and the messaging app Beeper, told staff on Friday, September 25, 2026 that it has assembled an entirely new board of directors. The announcement closes one of the strangest corporate governance episodes of the year, one that began when the company's own directors voted to place founder and chief executive Matt Mullenweg on paid leave and ended with him removing or accepting the resignations of the people who had voted against him.

The company sits at the center of the open web economy. According to WebProNews, WordPress software powers more than 40 percent of the internet, and Automattic's commercial arm sells hosting, commerce and publishing tools on top of it. That reach is why a boardroom dispute inside a privately held software firm drew attention far beyond the usual audience of corporate lawyers and venture investors.

The timeline matters. On September 9, 2026, the Automattic board voted to put Mullenweg on paid leave and named chief financial officer Mark Davies interim chief executive. WebProNews reported on September 14 that Mullenweg received the resolution roughly 50 minutes before the board meeting and that his request for time to consult independent legal counsel was denied. Within days the resolution was undone, and by mid September the company had reversed course officially.

The replacement directors are an unusual group for a company of Automattic's size: best selling science fiction author Hugh Howey, who wrote the Silo series; Amy Chan, author of Breakup Bootcamp; and Henry Khachatryan and Krutal Desai, the co-founders of IRL, a social app that shut down in 2023 after an internal investigation found that most of its claimed users were bots.

Key Facts

TechCrunch reported on September 25, 2026 that Mullenweg rebuilt the board just weeks after its previous directors tried and failed to oust him, naming the science fiction author, the advice author and the two IRL co-founders. The same report put the gap between his departure and his return at exactly 33 hours and 20 minutes, a figure Automattic itself confirmed to the outlet.

The mechanism behind the reversal was ownership, not negotiation. Mullenweg controls 84 percent of Automattic's voting shares, a number he cited on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2024. Startup Fortune reported on September 27 that the board's decision was therefore reversible the moment he chose to reverse it, and that the directors who moved against him were, in effect, simply out.

Three of them left. Toni Schneider, a founding chief executive of Automattic who now leads Bluesky, resigned from the board. Sue Decker, a director since March 2020, also resigned. Mullenweg himself removed retired General Ann Dunwoody from her seat. Two executives went with them: chief financial officer Mark Davies, who had been slated to become interim chief executive, and chief legal officer Andy Missan.

The new arrivals bring publishing and consumer app experience rather than large company operating records. IRL shut down in 2023 after an investigation found that roughly 95 percent of its claimed user base was bots, a detail that has been noted widely since the appointments were confirmed. Mezha reported on September 26 that Automattic also named new advisers, including former Whoop chief technology officer Jaime Waydo, June co-founder Matt Van Horn and KISSmetrics co-founder Hiten Shah.

In the staff announcement, Mullenweg reportedly wrote that "for purposes of Delaware law, I am the CEO, President, Treasurer, and Secretary," adding that the attempted firing brought in "many amazing supporters." Automattic remains privately held, and a BlackRock filing cited in coverage placed the company's valuation about 83 percent below its 2021 peak. The company's portfolio also includes WooCommerce and Beeper, and it is still entangled in a lawsuit with WP Engine over trademark disputes.

Analysis

What this really means is that Automattic's board of directors was never an independent check on its founder, whatever its charter said on paper. It was a body that served at the pleasure of a shareholder holding 84 percent of the vote, and the moment it acted against him it lost. Startup Fortune made essentially this argument, and the sequence supports it: a resolution passed on September 9, a chief executive back in control by September 12, and a complete roster change announced to staff on September 25.

The composition of the new board is the more revealing signal. Trading directors with public company operating experience for a novelist, a relationships advice author and the co-founders of an app that collapsed after a bot scandal suggests that loyalty and cultural alignment were weighted far more heavily than governance experience. That is a legitimate choice for a controlled company, and it is not illegal, but it changes what employees, partners and any future minority investor can reasonably expect from the board.

WebProNews reported on September 14 that Mullenweg described the episode on X as a coup attempt, saying "If you don't have a coup attempt every few years, you're not hiring strong enough leaders," and calling it his fifth. Treating an internal board vote as a coup reframes a governance process as a personal contest, and it tells any future director exactly how much room they will have to disagree.

The financial backdrop makes the consolidation more consequential. With the valuation down about 83 percent from its 2021 peak according to a BlackRock filing, and with WordPress powering more than 40 percent of the web, Automattic faces genuine competitive and legal pressure, including the trademark litigation with WP Engine. A board chosen for allegiance rather than challenge gives the chief executive speed, but it also removes the room for the hard internal questioning that a downturn usually demands.

Why It Matters

Automattic is not an ordinary private company. Its dual role across WordPress.com and WordPress.org means decisions at the top touch an open source project used by millions of sites. WordPress Executive Director Mary Hubbard publicly backed Mullenweg's return, saying his leadership gives her confidence that Automattic's support for the WordPress project will remain strong. When governance and the stewardship of a shared platform are tied to one person's voting stake, the health of that platform becomes tied to that person too.

The episode is also a reference case for founder control across technology. Dual class structures and supermajority stakes are common, and Mullenweg has now demonstrated, in public and in detail, how quickly they can neutralize a board that tries to act independently. Startup Fortune framed the lesson bluntly: a board that tries to act independently serves at Mullenweg's pleasure.

For employees and for the wider WordPress community, the practical question is continuity. Two senior executives are gone, including the chief financial officer who was supposed to run the company on an interim basis, and the new directors have no track record at this scale. Advisers such as Jaime Waydo, Matt Van Horn and Hiten Shah add experience, but they do not hold fiduciary votes or formal oversight duties.

Next Up

The immediate test is whether the reconstituted board can function while the company manages a depressed valuation and the WP Engine trademark litigation. Automattic has not signaled any change to its product roadmap, and the new directors have not yet been given public mandates.

Over the longer term, watch whether any genuinely independent voice emerges at the company, and whether the departures of Mark Davies and Andy Missan are followed by further executive turnover. Mezha reported on September 26 that the reversal had left Automattic facing a broader leadership reset, and on the evidence so far, that reset is still under way.