Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg has reshuffled the company’s board just weeks after its former directors tried, and failed, to fire him. The board, which was announced to staff on Friday, is an eclectic group that includes a best-selling science-fiction author and two co-founders of the now-defunct social app IRL, TechCrunch has learned, and Mullenweg has confirmed.
The new board is the latest twist in an internal governance struggle at Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and others. Earlier this month, the former board voted to place Mullenweg on leave in an attempt to remove him from the board, only to have the CEO take control just 33 hours later and remove or accept the resignations of the directors involved.
This week, Mullenweg posted about a board meeting, but didn’t share who he was meeting with. Now, he’s finally informing Automattic employees about board changes via the company’s announcement channel in Slack.
Sources told TechCrunch that the new Automattic board will include:
- The American writer Hugh Howey, author of the “Silo” book series. (Mullenweg and Howey both walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2018.)
- “Breakup Bootcamp” author Amy Chan (who recently reposted Mullenweg’s tweet about AI site builder company, Spacefast).
- IRL co-founder Henry Khachatryan, who described Mullenweg as a “founder and builder”, a longtime collaborator with the late technology writer Om Malik, and the website builder of journalist Nick Bilton.
- And Krutal Desai, who co-founded the social app IRL with Khachatryan.
We should note that IRL was shut down after investigations revealed that almost all of its user base was made up of bots. The co-founders, who also included CEO Abraham Shafi, later sued SoftBank and other investors after SoftBank sued for securities.
New advisors have also joined Automattic, including former Whoop CTO Jaime Waydo, June co-founder Matt Van Horn, and KISSmetrics co-founder Hiten Shah.
In the announcement to staff, Mullenweg wrote that “for purposes of Delaware law, I am the CEO, the president, the treasurer and the secretary,” adding that the attempted fire also brought “many amazing supporters.”
“We had the most interesting board meeting in a decade (since the Woo acquisition),” he said.
Reached for comment, Automattic said it hopes to have a comment for TechCrunch soon. After the release, Mullenweg confirmed the board additions and advisors, and shared the following statement: “We are living through times of unprecedented change, possibly a singularity. The next six months will determine the next 20 years of Automattic.”
Automattic’s original board had voted to put Mullenweg on paid leave, but he took back control of the company involved in what he described on X as an “attempted coup.”
To replace the board, Mullenweg used his voting shares – he controls 84% of the votes, he said at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. The period between his departure and his return lasted exactly “33 hours and 20 minutes”, Automattic told TechCrunch earlier.
After the failed board vote, member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic and now CEO of Bluesky, resigned from his board position. Mullenweg himself removed General Ann Dunwoody from the board, and board member Sue Decker also resigned. In addition, Mullenweg let go of Automattic CFO Mark Davies, who was slated to become interim CEO, and chief legal officer Andy Missan, TechCrunch confirmed with sources.
The board has never publicly shared its reasons for expelling Mullenweg.
Of note, Mullenweg also replaced Automattic’s legal counsel after his return, a move that raises questions about whether the boardroom fight is related to the company’s ongoing lawsuit with hosting provider WP Engine over trademark disputes and claims over WP Engine’s lack of contribution to the WordPress open source project. (WP Engine’s legal team also accused Mullenweg this July of destroying evidence, court filings show.)
In an internal message shared after the abort and return, Mullenweg acknowledged the chaos it caused, saying:
Last week, several members of the board formed a special committee and voted to put me on leave. They did so without warning and without giving me a meaningful opportunity to understand or respond to their concerns before acting. I was also denied a short extension to consult with independent legal counsel.
I have taken the necessary steps to reverse this action. I am back in full charge of the company. I will work together with you again to make our company a success.
I also want to share that we have retained Susman Godfrey LLP as our new litigation counsel. Susman Godfrey is one of the top litigation firms in the country, and they will protect our company’s interests and defend us in our ongoing litigation.
I know this past week has been volatile. I appreciate your patience and your continued focus on the work that matters. I’ll have more to share soon, but for now, know that Automattic’s mission and priorities remain unchanged.
Corrections and Updates: After publication, TechCrunch updated to clarify that Waydo is the former Whoop CTO. We have also added Mullenweg’s statement and confirmation.
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