Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg placed on leave

The governing board of Automattic, the enterprise behind WordPress.com, has officially decided to place the company's long-serving Chief Executive Officer, Matt Mullenweg, on a temporary paid leave of absence.

Following this directive, internal messages revealed that Mullenweg strongly opposed the measure and accused Chief Financial Officer Mark Davies of plotting with various board members to force him out of his active leadership role. In response to the executive vacancy, the board appointed Davies to serve as the interim chief executive officer to maintain business continuity. Company representatives subsequently confirmed the transition, stating that the board maintains absolute trust in the interim director's ability to manage day-to-day operations and execute key business priorities, while confirming that Mullenweg will still retain his seat on the board of directors.\n\nThis abrupt administrative shift comes after an intense period of public friction involving Mullenweg, who originally co-founded the open-source blogging platform WordPress.org and has served as Automattic's chief executive since 2014. During the preceding months, Mullenweg initiated an aggressive public relations campaign targeting a prominent hosting platform, sparking widespread debates and divisions among software developers and community members. This conflict eventually escalated into active, unresolved litigation that continues to impact the ecosystem. While the firm's official spokespeople have verified that the co-founder is stepping back from his day-to-day duties, the organization has refrained from publicizing the precise internal disagreements or strategic differences that prompted the board to demand his immediate departure.