Matt Mullenweg tells Automattic staff in Slack he’s back in control after CEO ouster

Matt Mullenweg told Automattic employees in a Slack post that he is once again running the company, according to a screenshot reviewed by TechCrunch and verified by two sources. The declaration follows a board decision earlier this week to place Mullenweg on paid leave and to install CFO Mark Davies as interim CEO.

When the board initially moved to remove Mullenweg from active leadership, an Automattic spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch that he had been put on leave and Davies was serving as interim CEO. In a private Slack message reported earlier this week, Mullenweg accused board members of conspiring behind his back as part of that action.

In a new post early Friday, Mullenweg said the board had “back in agreement” and that he was back in control of Automattic; he also linked to a YouTube video for LL Cool J’s “Make Said Knock You Out.” TechCrunch reported that Mark Davies’ Slack account was deactivated, but the company’s board has not issued any public statement confirming the claims in Mullenweg’s message. Automattic did not respond to a request for comment about the apparent reversal.

Separately, TechCrunch reported conflicting internal signals: sources said Mullenweg removed Slack administrators and made an unusual cursing post about being a “pirate,” behavior the article noted differs from his usual online style. After his initial removal, Mullenweg also posted on Reddit and X suggesting outside parties, including the private equity firm Silver Lake, were involved in efforts he characterized as targeting him, and asked for sysadmins and security researchers to assist with moving some of his hosted assets. Mullenweg told TechCrunch a blog post is forthcoming. The situation remains fluid and unconfirmed by Automattic’s board.