Automattic Board Ousts Founder Mullenweg as CEO; Valuation Down 83% to $1.2B
VeryWellVersed · x · 2026-09-11
Automattic's board voted to place founder Matt Mullenweg on leave and remove him as CEO, appointing CFO Mark Davies as interim CEO. In an internal Slack message, Mullenweg accused Davies of "conspiring" with board members Ann Dunwoody, Toni Schneider, and Sue Decker, saying he received the resolution only 50 minutes before the meeting and was denied time for independent legal review.
The backdrop is a steep valuation decline: BlackRock's latest SEC filing values its Automattic shares at $14.33 each versus $85 at its 2021 investment, implying market cap fell from about $7.5 billion to $1.2 billion. Mullenweg has also been mired in litigation with WP Engine.
Related event: Automattic Board Forces Out Founder Matt Mullenweg as CEO(3 posts)→
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