Automattic board ousted after failed attempt to remove CEO Matt Mullenweg

Automattic’s board is out, multiple sources have confirmed to TechCrunch, after last week’s attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg by voting to put him on a paid leave of absence.

After the vote, Mullenweg, the WordPress founder and CEO of WordPress.com parent company Automattic, accused the board of conspiring against him in a post on Automattic’s Slack. On Friday, TechCrunch exclusively reported Mullenweg told the company’s staff that he was back in control of the company, also via Slack post. Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch on Saturday that he had returned.

Initially, we heard from sources that Toni Schneider, a founding CEO at Automattic who now leads the open social network Bluesky, had resigned his Automattic board seat. Schneider has since removed a paragraph from his bio page on his personal website which had noted his contributions at Automattic.

Previously, Schneider’s website read: “I also contribute actively at Automattic, the open source company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce. I was Automattic’s founding CEO and continue to support internal projects and investments as a board member and special advisor.”

We’ve also heard that Mullenweg removed the two other board members, Sue Decker and Gen. Ann Dunwoody.

Decker’s LinkedIn bio has been updated to confirm that she served on Automattic’s board from March 2020 through September 2026, despite her name still appearing on Automattic’s Board of Directors page at the time of publication.

When asked by TechCrunch about the board changes, Automattic declined to provide specifics, but offered a statement acknowledging that people have left.

Via an email that arrived after midnight PT on Sunday, an Automattic spokesperson shared the following:

“Matt and Automattic’s leadership team have great respect for everyone involved. While we can’t comment on specific individuals, we’re thankful for their contributions to Automattic and its mission, and we remain excited about what’s ahead with Matt at the helm. Matt was away for only 33 hours and 20 minutes—we’re now back to work,” the spokesperson said.

Given that these departed board members were those who voted to put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence to begin with, it makes sense that a board shakeup has taken place. It also explains how Mullenweg’s return to his position as CEO would have the “full support of the board,” as a statement issued on Saturday indicated.

TechCrunch is hearing from sources Automattic may make an internal announcement about the new board sometime on Monday.

What prompted the board’s vote still remains unclear. Mullenweg and Automattic are involved in a high-profile lawsuit with a WordPress hosting company, WP Engine. Mullenweg has accused the company of infringing on the WordPress trademark and not sufficiently contributing in terms of engineering hours or money to the open source WordPress effort. Earlier this year, WP Engine claimed in a court filing that Automattic planned to target other competitors with royalty fees.

More recently, it has accused Mullenweg of allegedly destroying evidence related to the case in apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram. Last year, Mullenweg had deactivated the accounts of several WordPress contributors over alleged plans to fork the open source software.

Do you have more information? You can reach Sarah Perez at [email protected] or @sarahperez.01 on Signal.