Welcome to Open Channels News, your go-to source for the latest in open source news. In today’s episode, Robert Jacobi zeroes in on major developments surrounding WordPress, Automattic, and the ongoing debate around leadership and governance in open source:
Automattic Changeup:
Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg is placed on paid leave by the company’s board, with CFO Mark Davies stepping in as interim CEO. While Mullenweg remains on the board, the reasons for his removal have not been publicly explained, and the company faces questions about the future direction and leadership.
Separation of Company and Project:
WordPress.org Executive Director Mary Hubbard confirms that changes at Automattic do not affect Mullenweg’s leadership role in the WordPress open source project. The distinction between Automattic (the company) and WordPress (the project) has become more pronounced, initiating discussions about governance and authority.
Context Behind the Board’s Decision:
The move follows years of increasing tension involving public disputes between Automattic and WP Engine, legal battles over trademarks, and significant company layoffs and departures. Employees express emotions ranging from relief to uncertainty as the community seeks clarity on what will change.
Open Source Governance Spotlight:
This shakeup highlights ongoing questions about distributed leadership in open source. With Mullenweg leading the project and Davies running Automattic, the podcast asks who truly has authority, and how the WordPress ecosystem distinguishes between company and project interests.
Tune in as Robert Jacobi unpacks these pivotal events and what they mean for the future of WordPress and open source leadership.
Takeaways
- Founder Status Shift: Matt, founder of Automattic, has been placed on paid leave as CEO, with CFO Mark serving as interim CEO, but Mike remains on the board and as WordPress project leader, creating a unique leadership division in the ecosystem.
- Unclear Governance: The decision to put Matt on leave happened quickly, with Matt stating the board acted behind his back; the board confirmed the leave but presented it less dramatically, leaving reasons and future plans unclear.
- Automattic vs. WordPress Distinction: Automattic (the company) and WordPress (the open source project) are distinct entities, though deeply intertwined; leadership and governance in one doesn’t necessarily dictate the other, as highlighted by Mary, the Executive Director of WordPress.org, stating nothing changes within WordPress project governance.
- State of Uncertainty: Employees and the broader community are feeling everything from relief to uncertainty, underscoring the impact sudden leadership changes have, especially in founder-led companies.
- Underlying Tensions: Mike’s ongoing conflicts with companies like WP Engine, recent layoffs, and public disputes over trademarks and governance have pushed Automattic and WordPress into overlapping and sometimes contentious conversations about authority and control.
- Test of Open Source Principles: This leadership shake-up exposes core questions about distributed governance, stewardship, and influence in open source projects, and will challenge whether the ecosystem can actually delineate roles and responsibilities when interests overlap.
- No Timetable or Clarity: There’s no public indication of how long the leave will last or what comes next, making the next phase less about the announcement and more about how responsibilities separate and decisions are made between Automattic and WordPress.
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Mentioned Links and Resources
- 404 Media (First to report the news) – Broke the story about Mullenweg being placed on paid leave from Automattic.
🔗 https://www.404media.co/wordpress-automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg-put-on-leave-of-absence/ - The Verge (Independent confirmation and additional context) – Reported on the move and detailed the background and conflicts involving Mullenweg and WP Engine.
🔗 https://www.wilsonsmedia.com/automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg-placed-on-leave/ - TechCrunch (Confirmed details, provided distinction between Automattic and WordPress project roles) – Added information on governance, board confidence, and staff reactions.
🔗 https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/09/automattics-board-forces-ceo-matt-mullenweg-into-leave-of-absence/
Episode Transcript
Robert Jacobi:
Welcome to Open Channels News with your host, Robert Jacobi. And welcome to OCN, the Open Channels News broadcast. I’m your host, Robert Jacobi. It’s been a crazy 24 hours and we lead today with WordPress and only WordPress. With a story that is really about the difference between a company, a project, and the person who has spent more than 2 decades sitting at the center of both.
Matt Mullenweg has been placed on paid leave from Automattic, the company he founded and has led for years. Automattic’s board has named Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies interim CEO. The immediate question is obvious: what happens next? The more interesting question is bigger. What does it mean when the founder of one of the most influential companies in open source is removed from the chief executive role, but remains on the board and remains the leader of the WordPress project?
404 Media was first to report that Mullenweg told Automattic employees in a company-wide Slack message that the board had voted to put him on paid leave of absence. Mullenweg said Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies and board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider and Sue Decker had acted behind his back. He said he voted against the resolution and had received it less than an hour before the board meeting.
The board’s version is much less dramatic. Automattic confirmed that Mullenweg is currently on leave and that Davies will serve as interim CEO. The company said the board has full confidence in Davies and in the team’s ability to execute against Automattic’s priorities. According to 404 Media, Davies told employees that Mullenweg remains a member of Automattic’s board, and will continue to have a voice in company direction and decisions. So this is not a clean break. It is more like removing someone from the driver’s seat while kind of leaving them still in the car and still very involved in deciding where that road goes.
The Verge independently reported the move and highlighted the context surrounding it. Mullenweg has led Automattic since 2014 and has spent the past 2 years in an increasingly public conflict with WP Engine, a fight that expanded from criticism over open-source contributions into trademark disputes, lawsuits, employee departures, and a wider argument over governance inside the WordPress ecosystem.
TechCrunch also confirmed the leave and adds one particularly important distinction. Mary Hubbard, Executive Director of WordPress.org, told the WordPress community that the change at Automattic does not change Mullenweg’s role in the open source project. Matt remains the leader of the WordPress project. Hubbard remains Executive Director. WordPress.org teams and priorities, she said, continue as planned.
That distinction matters. Automattic is a private company while WordPress is an open source project. They’re deeply connected through people, funding, infrastructure, history, and leadership, but they are not the same thing. For years, that distinction has sometimes been obvious and sometimes a little blurry. This situation makes it impossible to ignore. Mullenweg can now be on leave from the company while continuing to lead the project.
That actually creates 2 parallel governance questions. At Automattic, Mark Davies now has to run a company that owns WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, Pocket Casts, Beeper, one of my favorites, uh, while the founder remains on the board. While the reasons for the board action have not been publicly explained, inside the WordPress community, the community has to understand whether anything actually changes. And if it does not, what that tells us about where the authority really sits.
TechCrunch reports that the board’s reason for acting now is still unclear. Employees quoted by the publication expressed everything from relief to uncertainty, which is probably about what you would expect after a founder-led company suddenly changes leadership.
And there’s a lot of history sitting underneath this decision. The WP Engine dispute is still active. Automattic went through significant layoffs in 2025, and earlier employee buyout offers led to large departures. Public fights over governance, trademarks, contributor access and control have repeatedly pushed questions about Automattic and WordPress into the same conversation.
This is where this thread gets interesting for open source and WordPress. Founder-led projects often benefit enormously from having a person with a long memory, a strong point of view, and the ability to make decisions quickly. That works very well until a company, the community, and the project all become large enough that one person’s role in each of them starts creating tension. Open source likes to talk about distributed systems. Governance may, you know, is something we should be talking about.
This week’s events do not resolve that tension. They just expose it. Automattic now has an interim CEO. WordPress still has the same project leader. Mullenweg remains on Automattic’s board, and there is no public timetable for how long the leave lasts or what comes after it.
So the next phase will be less about the announcement and more about the separation of responsibilities. Who speaks for Automattic? Who speaks for WordPress? Who makes decisions when those interests overlap? And perhaps most importantly, can the ecosystem tell the difference?
So that’s the story for the day. 3 publications, 404 Media, The Verge, TechCrunch, are reporting the same extraordinary change. Mullenweg is temporarily out as Automattic CEO. Mark Davies is the interim CEO, while Mullenweg still remains on the board and remains the leader of the WordPress project.
That makes this more than a leadership change. It is a real-world test of something open source has wrestled with for over the years. The difference between ownership, stewardship, governance, and influence. The code can be distributed, the community can be distributed, eventually the leadership model has proved it can be distributed as well.
That’s OCN. I’m Robert Jacobi. Be open and stay secure.
