WordPress.com-ийн толгой компани болох Automattic-ийн ТУЗ-ийн шийдвэрээр Мэтт Мулленвегийг цалинтай чөлөөнд гаргаж, санхүүгийн захирал Марк Дэвисийг түр гүйцэтгэх захирлаар томилов.
Automattic компанийг үүсгэн байгуулагч Мэтт Мулленвег компанийн ТУЗ-ийн гишүүд болох Марк Дэвис, Энн Данвуди, Тони Шнайдер, Сью Декер нар түүнийг мэдэгдэлгүйгээр хуйвалдаж, албан тушаалаас нь түр чөлөөлөх санал хураалт явуулсныг ажилчдад илгээсэн Slack мессежээрээ дамжуулан мэдэгдлээ. Тэрээр энэхүү шийдвэрийг эсэргүүцсэн бөгөөд ТУЗ-ийн хурлын өмнө бие даасан хуулийн зөвлөхтэй зөвлөлдөх хүсэлт гаргасан ч татгалзсан хариу авчээ. Тус компани Мулленвегийг чөлөөнд гарсан болохыг албан ёсоор баталсан бөгөөд Марк Дэвис түр хугацаанд удирдлагын үүргийг гүйцэтгэхээр болсон байна.
Энэхүү өөрчлөлт нь WordPress.org нээлттэй эх сурвалжийн төсөлд нөлөөлөхгүй гэж тус төслийн гүйцэтгэх захирал Мэри Хаббард мэдэгдлээ. Мулленвег нь WordPress төслийн удирдагч хэвээр үлдэж, багийн үйл ажиллагаа төлөвлөгөөний дагуу үргэлжилнэ гэдгийг тэрээр онцолсон байна. Мулленвег нь Automattic-ийн ТУЗ-ийн гишүүн хэвээр үлдэж байгаа боловч түүнийг албан тушаалаас нь түр чөлөөлөх болсон шалтгаан тодорхойгүй байна.
Сүүлийн жилүүдэд Automattic компани болон Мулленвег нь WP Engine компанитай хуулийн маргаантай байгаа бөгөөд үүнтэй холбоотойгоор олон тооны ажилтан ажлаасаа гарах, цомхотгол хийх зэрэг хүндрэлүүд үүсээд байсан юм. 2025 оны дөрөвдүгээр сард тус компани нийт ажилтнуудынхаа 16 хувийг цомхотгосон. Одоогийн байдлаар компанийн дотоод уур амьсгал тогтворгүй байгаа бөгөөд ажилчдын дунд энэхүү гэнэтийн өөрчлөлттэй холбоотой холимог хандлага ажиглагдаж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automattic, best known as the parent company of WordPress.com, has been put on a leave of absence by his board against his will, according to a Slack message seen by TechCrunch.
Earlier Wednesday, Mullenweg posted in a Slack channel visible to all employees that the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark Davies, had “conspired” with other board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker to vote to put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence.
The message read:
And the biggest news: I won’t be able to make the [meeting] tomorrow. @Mark Davies has conspired with @Ann Dunwoody, @Toni, and @Sue Decker behind my back and they voted to put me on a paid leave of absence. I voted against that. Wishing Mark and all of you the very best.
To clarify @Mark Davies was voted as interim CEO. I received the resolution 50 minutes before the meeting start, and requested repeatedly for time to have it reviewed by independent legal counsel, even a few hours, which was denied.
A Slack message to the open-source WordPress.org community from the project’s executive director, Mary Hubbard, also confirmed Mullenweg’s change of status at the commercial company. However, Hubbard said that WordPress.org was not impacted. “Matt remains the leader of the WordPress project and I remain Executive Director of WordPress. Our teams, priorities, and work continue as planned,” she wrote.
Mullenweg’s Slack message did not make clear why Automattic’s board took this action. Sources told 404 Media, which was the first to report the news, that Schneider — the former CEO of Automattic from 2006 to 2014 — confirmed that the action was initiated by the board. Davies also told employees in the Slack channel that Mullenweg remained on the board of directors.
In an emailed statement to TechCrunch, Automattic confirmed Mullenweg was on leave.
“Matt Mullenweg is currently on leave from Automattic,” the email read. “Mark Davies, Automattic’s CFO, will lead the company as interim CEO. The Board has full confidence in Mark’s leadership and in the team’s ability to execute against the company’s priorities.”
Automattic, which owns other brands including Tumblr, WooCommerce, and Pocket Casts, was founded by Mullenweg in 2003 after he co-created the popular open-source content management system WordPress.
Over the past few years, Mullenweg and the company have been mired in lawsuits and controversy. The company is in a protracted legal battle with WP Engine, a WordPress web hosting competitor. The lawsuit followed allegations from Mullenweg that WP Engine was profiting from the open-source WordPress project without contributing back to the community, and he demanded it pay 8% of its monthly gross revenue as a royalty fee for using the WordPress brand.
WP Engine sued inOctober 2024, and accused Automattic and Mullenweg ofdefamation and abuse of power. Automattic filed counterclaimslast year. In February, WP Engine claimed that Automattic intended to target 10 more competitors with royalty claims.
Tensions became so high under Mullenweg’s leadership that he told employees in 2024 to quit, with severance, if they disagreed with him and 159 did so.
Last year, Mullenwegalso threatened to deactivate the accounts of severalmembers of the open-source WordPress.orgcommunity, after two of them said they planned to spearhead a new forked version of the open source WordPress project.
In April 2025, the company laid off 16% of its staff. The cuts included some longtime employees who had been with the company for more than a decade, sources told TechCrunch.
Some alumni have been asking current employees how they feel about the news, a source told TechCrunch. Some employees said they were “ecstatic” or “relieved” but others had mixed emotions because the move creates more instability.
It isn’t clear why the company’s board made this decision now. One person speculated that the timing may have something to do with Mullenweg’s annual trip to the Burning Man festival, after which he tends to return “with ideas.” This year’s festival ended on September 7.
Mullenweg did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
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