Matt Mullenweg posted his return announcement in Automattic’s Slack with a link to LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out, two days after the board put its founder on paid leave. Mark Davies had taken over. Now Mullenweg said he controlled the company again. WordPress executive director Mary Hubbard confirmed his return as CEO on Friday, September 11, leaving the parent of WordPress.com, Tumblr and Beeper with its second leadership change that week. [1, 2]
Matt Mullenweg Announces His Return
Automattic employees received the news through the same workplace messaging service that had carried Mullenweg’s account of his removal. TechCrunch reviewed a screenshot of his new message and checked it with multiple employee sources, establishing that staff had received the announcement even before the company answered questions about it. The directors were “back in agreement,” Mullenweg wrote, and he was “in control of Automattic.” He acknowledged unfinished business from the previous 48 hours, expressing hope that misunderstandings explained much of what had happened and respect for the people involved. His message did not identify the terms of that agreement or explain why the directors had changed course. [2]
Hubbard then spoke publicly. The WordPress.org executive director welcomed Mullenweg’s return in a Friday post on X, which the official WordPress account shared and Mullenweg reposted as questions about his announcement continued. Her statement added public confirmation from a named WordPress leader to the internal Slack message. Neither report supplied a board statement explaining the agreement or its terms. [1, 2]
Automattic owns WordPress.com, Tumblr and Beeper. Matt Mullenweg’s return put the founder back in the chief executive role within days of the company confirming an interim replacement, leaving employees to absorb another change before the first had a public explanation. Why had the board removed him? The reports traced the dispute back to Wednesday’s vote. [1, 2]
The Board Puts Davies in Charge
On Wednesday, September 9, Matt Mullenweg told staff that the board had voted to place him on paid leave of absence. He said Mark Davies, Automattic’s CFO (chief financial officer), had worked with directors against him and would take over as interim CEO, an appointment Automattic spokespeople subsequently confirmed to The Verge and TechCrunch. Mullenweg opposed the vote. The Verge reported his opposition through its account of 404 Media’s reporting, while neither outlet gave a company explanation for the leave. [1, 2]
Davies addressed employees separately. According to 404 Media’s reporting, as recounted by The Verge, he said Mullenweg would remain a board member even as Davies took over the company’s executive leadership on an interim basis. Mullenweg still had a seat among the directors. Neither article says he lost that seat during the dispute, so the confirmed leave concerned his executive role. [1]
Mullenweg described the directors’ conduct as a conspiracy. That was his accusation; the company’s confirmation covered the leave and interim appointment. [1, 2]
Slack Access Raises More Questions
By the time TechCrunch reported the return announcement, employee sources said Davies’s Slack account had been deactivated, while the outlet had heard the previous day that Mullenweg had removed all administrators from Automattic’s Slack. Slack access had entered the dispute. However, an inactive account does not establish Davies’s employment status, and neither article explained whether he would continue as CFO after the founder’s return. [2]
TechCrunch initially approached Mullenweg’s announcement cautiously. Its report said employees had not heard confirmation from the board at the time of writing, even though multiple sources had authenticated the screenshot of his message. The outlet also described an earlier Slack post in which he called himself a pirate and used profanity. Asked whether he was trolling, he replied, “I’m not a troll I’m a pirate, obviously.” Hubbard’s later statement supported his return. She gave no explanation for the Slack changes. [2]
Employees had a message from their founder, a disabled account for the interim leader and, later, Hubbard’s endorsement of the comeback. The reports did not settle who authorized each access change. Matt Mullenweg’s own account pointed toward reconciliation with the directors, but his public posts about the episode kept accusations against other people and organizations in circulation. [1, 2]
Public Posts Widen the Dispute
Mullenweg had already challenged the interpretation of his removal on Reddit and X. On Reddit, he responded to a post linking to 404 Media’s original report and pushed back at commenters discussing the consequences for the open-source community. On X, he sought system administrators and security researchers to help move some of his material away from Automattic’s hosting, even as he expressed support for Davies as CEO. TechCrunch reported both messages. [2]
Silver Lake entered the story through Mullenweg’s posts. TechCrunch reported that he suggested the private equity firm had a role in an effort against him, identifying it as the majority owner of WP Engine, the hosting company in a lawsuit with Mullenweg and Automattic. Silver Lake’s alleged involvement in the board dispute has not been independently verified in these reports. Neither outlet established a connection between that litigation and Wednesday’s vote. Mullenweg supplied the accusation; the company’s earlier confirmation covered his leave and Davies’s appointment. [2]
On Friday, Mullenweg invoked a coup attempt and strong leaders in an X post, then suggested he had experienced five such episodes. The Verge reported those remarks. His count remains his own characterization, and the report did not document five separate attempts to remove him. Meanwhile, a promised blog post offered another place for him to explain the week. [1]
A Houseboat Instead of an Explanation
TechCrunch asked Matt Mullenweg about his return and heard that a blog post was coming. It eventually appeared under the title Major Life Announcement. The subject was a houseboat. Mullenweg wrote about making an offer to buy one, according to The Verge, leaving readers awaiting a boardroom explanation with a personal purchase update instead of an account of the reversal. Neither outlet’s description of the post supplied the missing reasons for his leave or the terms of his return. [1, 2]
Technology insiders have also used public departures to raise concerns about their organizations, as in Jacob Coxon’s departure from Anthropic and warning about the superintelligence race, which PerEXP Teamworks covered separately. At Automattic, the unresolved issue sits with the directors: what led them to replace their founder, and what changed their position within two days? Mullenweg’s messages describe his side of those events. [1, 2]
Automattic had not answered the outlets’ requests for comment on the return when their reports appeared. Hubbard confirmed the comeback; the board’s explanation was still missing. A statement from the directors would need to address Wednesday’s decision, the agreement Mullenweg described and Davies’s role after the interim appointment, all questions the two reports left open. [1, 2]
- ONLINE NEWS Peters, J. (2026, September 11). Matt Mullenweg returns as Automattic CEO two days after getting booted. The Verge. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Perez, S. (2026, September 11). Matt Mullenweg tells (trolls?) Automattic staff, saying he’s back in control after CEO ouster. TechCrunch. [Article Link]
