Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg has rebuilt the company’s commission fair weeks following its former board tried, and failed, to oust him. The board, which was announced to personnel Friday, is an eclectic collection 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 commission is the latest twist in an inner governance combat at Automattic, the genitor business of WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and others. Earlier this month, the former commission voted to location Mullenweg on leave in an attempt to eliminate him from the board, lone to have the CEO retake control fair 33 hours afterward and eliminate or obtain the resignations of the board who were involved.
This week, Mullenweg posted concerning a commission meeting but didn’t portion who he was gathering with. Now he’s eventually notifying Automattic workforce of the commission changes via the company’s announcements conduit in Slack.
Sources told TechCrunch the new Automattic commission includes:
- American author Hugh Howey, author of the “Silo” publish series. (Mullenweg and Howey both hiked alongside the Camino de Santiago in Spain rear in 2018.)
- “Breakup Bootcamp” author Amy Chan (who lately reposted Mullenweg’s tweet concerning the company’s AI location builder, Spacefast).
- IRL co-founder Henry Khachatryan, who Mullenweg described as a “founder and builder,” a longtime collaborator alongside the delayed innovation author Om Malik, and the website builder of newsman Nick Bilton.
- And Krutal Desai, who co-founded the social app IRL alongside Khachatryan.
We should note that IRL shut downward following investigations revealed that nearly all of its person basis was made up of bots. The co-founders, who additionally included CEO Abraham Shafi, afterward sued SoftBank and another investors following SoftBank had sued for securities fraud.
New advisers have additionally joined Automattic, including erstwhile Whoop CTO Jaime Waydo, June co-founder Matt Van Horn, and KISSmetrics co-founder Hiten Shah.
In the notice to staff, Mullenweg reportedly wrote that, “for purposes of Delaware law, I am the CEO, President, Treasurer, and Secretary,” adding that the attempted firing had additionally brought in “many amazing supporters.”
“We had the most engaging commission gathering in a decade (since the Woo acquisition),” he said.
Reached for comment, Automattic stated it hoped to have a comment for TechCrunch soon. After publication, Mullenweg confirmed the commission additions and advisors, and shared the following statement: “We are living through times of unprecedented change, perchance a singularity. The next six months volition decide the next 20 years of Automattic.”
Automattic’s first commission had voted to put Mullenweg on paid leave, but he took rear authority of the company, letting go of those engaged in what he described on X as a “coup attempt.”
To substitute the board, Mullenweg leveraged his voting shares — he controls 84% of the vote, he stated at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. The duration between his departure and come back lasted exactly “33 hours and 20 minutes,” Automattic told TechCrunch previously.
Following the unsuccessful commission vote, member Toni Schneider, a founding CEO of Automattic and now CEO of Bluesky, resigned from his commission position. Mullenweg himself removed General Ann Dunwoody from the board, and commission associate Sue Decker additionally resigned. In addition, Mullenweg let go of Automattic CFO Mark Davies, who was slated to rotate into interim CEO, and chief lawful authoritative Andy Missan, TechCrunch confirmed alongside sources.
Founder advice: If you don't have a coup attempt all few years, you're not hiring powerful adequate leaders.
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) September 11, 2026
The commission never publically shared its reasons for trying to oust Mullenweg.
Of note, Mullenweg additionally replaced Automattic’s lawful advise following his return, a move that raises questions concerning whether the boardroom combat is tied to the company’s ongoing lawsuit alongside hosting provider WP Engine complete trademark disputes and claims complete WP Engine’s deficiency of contribution to the WordPress open origin project. (WP Engine’s lawful squad had additionally accused Mullenweg this July of destroying evidence, court filings show.)
In an inner communication shared following the ousting and return, Mullenweg had acknowledged the anarchy it caused, saying:
Last week, multiple commission members cast a particular commission and voted to location me on a depart of absence. They did this without advancement alert and without giving me a meaningful chance to comprehend or react to their concerns before they acted. I was denied equal a concise expansion to consult alongside autonomous lawful counsel.
I took the steps necessary to reverse that action. I am rear and completely in accusation of the company. I am again operating alongside you to create our business a success.
I additionally desire to portion that we have retained Susman Godfrey LLP as our new litigation counsel. Susman Godfrey is among the top test firms in the country, and they volition be protecting our company’s interests and defending us in our ongoing litigation.
I cognize this former week has been unsettling. I value your patience and your continued concentration on the activity that matters. I volition have additional to portion soon, but for now, cognize that Automattic’s goal and priorities remain unchanged.
Corrections and updates: After publication, TechCrunch updated to explain that Waydo is the erstwhile Whoop CTO. We additionally added Mullenweg’s declaration and confirmation.
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