Automattic's Board Tried to Sideline Its CEO, Then Left Instead
Automattic's board is out after voting to put founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg on paid leave. Multiple sources confirmed the departures to TechCrunch on Sept. 14, ending a short fight for control. TechCrunch
Automattic confirmed on Saturday that Mullenweg had returned as CEO. The company later said he was back as chairman and CEO, with the full support of the board.
The leave lasted 33 hours and 20 minutes, according to a spokesperson. The board had voted on Wednesday to place Mullenweg on paid leave against his will. CFO Mark Davies was set to lead as interim CEO, a temporary chief executive, during the leave. TechCrunch
Mullenweg contested the decision inside the company. In a post on Automattic's Slack after the vote, he accused the board of conspiring against him. In a separate Slack post, he said he was back in control.
Sources said Toni Schneider resigned his board seat. Schneider was Automattic's founding CEO and now leads the social network Bluesky. He removed text from his personal website bio describing his work at Automattic as a board member and special advisor. Sources also said Mullenweg removed board members Sue Decker and Ann Dunwoody. Decker's LinkedIn bio was updated to say she served from March 2020 through September 2026.
No public explanation for the leave vote has been given. The company has not detailed the talks that led to it, so the reason is still unknown.
The broader context here will be familiar to tech followers. A board has formal authority over a chief executive on paper. Practical control often sits elsewhere, in share structure, special voting rights, removal powers, and staff support. When those layers disagree, the outcome can be very fast. Thirty-three hours is fast.
In my view, that speed matters more than the internal messaging. An interim plan centered on the CFO suggests an effort to keep operations steady. The rapid return, followed by resignations and removals, suggests that plan never took hold. For staff, customers, and partners, the practical question is who can approve, hire, ship, and commit the company. That question now has a clear answer.
Worth flagging in plain terms is the risk of unclear board action. Engineers and managers cannot plan around unknown reasons. They watch titles, dates, and behavior. Bio edits and LinkedIn updates are crude signals, but without detail they become the record. Automattic's confirmation of Mullenweg as chairman and CEO resets the formal record, even if it does not explain the break.
The optimistic reading here, which I lean toward over time, is that quick resolution limits drift. Long interim periods tend to freeze decisions and leave talent waiting. A defined outcome, however abrupt, lets teams return to roadmaps and daily work. The work still has to be done.
