Tech Brew Ride Home · Thursday, September 10, 2026
Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic, claims he has been placed on paid leave following a board dispute. He alleges that CFO Mark Davies conspired with other board members to remove him and appoint Davies as interim CEO. Mullenweg stated he voted against the resolution and was denied legal counsel.
“Earlier Wednesday, Mullenweg posted in a Slack channel, all employees that the company's chief financial officer Mark Davies had conspired with other board members and Dunwoody, Tony Schneider and Sue Degger, behind my back and they voted to put me on paid leave of absence.”
“I voted against that, wishing Mark and all of you the very best. To clarify, at Mark Davies was voted as interim CEO.”
“I received the resolution 50 minutes before the meeting start and requested repeatedly for time to have it reviewed by independent legal counsel, even for a few hours, which was denied.”