Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, has acknowledged that the company is “very short-staffed” amid ongoing tensions with WP Engine. Mullenweg criticized WP Engine, accusing the company of not contributing enough to the open-source WordPress project and using the “WP” brand in a way that confuses customers into thinking it’s a part of WordPress. The conflict has sparked considerable reactions from both engineers and employees at Automattic.
Earlier this month, 159 employees accepted a severance package and left the company. Following this, Mullenweg offered another alignment deal on October 17, which employees had only four hours to respond to. “With the first deal, we cut off access the same day,” Mullenweg said.
“For the second deal, if you’re the leaker, we’ll cut off access immediately. But for others, we might ask them to stay on until possibly next year because we’re very short-staffed, so we kind of need to hire.”
It appears Automattic was attempting to identify the source of leaks to the press regarding the dispute. Mullenweg confirmed that Automattic’s headcount has decreased from roughly 1,900 to around 1,700 employees.
He noted that the company hired 26 people in October despite the ongoing turmoil. Mullenweg also said he’s not worried that the ongoing dispute between his company and WP Engine may lead to a fork of the open source WordPress software. In fact, he said, he’d welcome it.
“There might be a fork. I mean, we’ve had WordPress forks before — probably about three or four times in the history [of WordPress],” Mullenweg said. “That’s one of the beautiful things about open source is that there can be a fork.”
Mullenweg suggested that rival WP Engine had essentially already forked the software because the version it runs is “very, very different” from what the WordPress core is today.
If WordPress were to be officially forked, Mullenweg indicated that it would be a better path. “I think that’d be fantastic, actually. So people can have alternative governance or an alternative approach,” he noted.
He also pointed out that the size of the WordPress community could support such a move. WordPress 6.7, which is coming out in a few weeks, had over 600 contributors. “Only about 10% of those are from Automattic,” Mullenweg said.
Additionally, he noted that the WordPress core software had seen some 40 million downloads since September 17. “The actual activity of WordPress is going quite strong,” he added. The interview came amid a heated legal dispute with hosting provider WP Engine, which has upset the open source community and led to the departure of over 150 Automattic employees who disagree with Mullenweg’s new direction.
Automattic faces staffing challenges amid dispute
Mullenweg alleged that WP Engine’s use of the “WP” brand is meant to confuse people into thinking that WP Engine is officially associated with WordPress when it is not, and suggested that WP Engine doesn’t do enough to contribute to WordPress, a claim that WP Engine disputes. As a result, he’s asking WP Engine to share 8% of its revenue or the equivalent of revenue in terms of engineering hours working on the core.
“It’s not just about the money. It’s really about like … if you’re gonna profit off the WordPress trademark, you need to be part of the WordPress ecosystem,” Mullenweg said. WP Engine filed a motion in a Northern California court on October 18, 2024, seeking a preliminary injunction to restore its access to WordPress.org.
The company aims to revert conditions to what they were on September 20, 2024. The hearing is set for November 26, 2024. The injunction claims that Matt Mullenweg and Automattic have “engaged in a self-proclaimed ‘nuclear’ war aimed at destroying WP Engine’s business.” The motion further alleges that this retaliation stems from WP Engine’s refusal to meet an “extortionate demand” for tens of millions of dollars annually for a license they argue is unnecessary.
Additionally, WP Engine accuses Mullenweg and Automattic of blocking access to business resources, hindering security updates, making false statements, and expropriating one of WP Engine’s popular software products. According to WP Engine, these actions have had a significant impact on their business, evidenced by a 14% increase in cancellation requests, 333 fewer new contracts than expected, and a 29% drop in new customers from their “self-service” channel. In response, Automattic and Mullenweg stated, “This case is not about Plaintiff’s access to WordPress… this case instead is about WordPress.org – a website owned and run by Defendant Matt Mullenweg individually, for the benefit of the community he loves.
WordPress.org is not WordPress. WordPress.org is not Automattic or the WordPress Foundation, and is not controlled by either. To the contrary, as Plaintiff itself acknowledges, WordPress.org is Mr.
Mullenweg’s responsibility.”
Mullenweg added, “Mr. Mullenweg has no contracts, agreements, or obligation to provide WP Engine access to the network and resources of WordPress.org. WP Engine points to no terms, conditions, or permissions that entitle them to such access.
Nevertheless, WP Engine, a private equity-backed company, made the unilateral decision, at its own risk, to build a multi-billion-dollar business around Mr. Mullenweg’s website. In doing so, WP Engine gambled for the sake of profit that Mr.
Mullenweg would continue to maintain open access to his website for free. That was their choice.”
On his blog, Mullenweg commented, “They say this is about community or some nonsense, but if you look at the core, what they’re trying to do is ask a judge to curtail my First Amendment rights.” He also stated, “I will refrain from personally commenting on the WP Engine case until a judge rules on the injunction. I will continue to exercise my First Amendment rights to promote others’ speech.”
This controversy has sparked concern within the WordPress community.
Jeff Chandler remarked, “The words in this document cannot be overemphasized enough to current and future WordPress builders. These statements generate shock waves to the core of what has been built and maintained over the last 21 years.”
Katie Keith, CEO of BARN2 Plugins, reflected on the situation, stating, “I hope it brings some stability to the WordPress ecosystem, as people won’t be constantly wondering what will happen next.”
The dispute has now attracted broader media attention, highlighting the tension between independent businesses and the governance of open-source platforms.
