A Slack post, not a press release

Mullenweg told Automattic staff he is back in control as CEO. TechCrunch saw a screenshot and multiple employees confirmed it. The company itself said nothing.

“Happy to announce the board is back in agreement, and I'm in control of Automattic.”

Days after the board removed him

On Wednesday, Mullenweg said the board had conspired behind his back to put him on paid leave. CFO Mark Davies was installed as interim CEO, which Automattic confirmed at the time.

He asked for a blog post

TechCrunch asked Mullenweg to confirm the claim and he promised a blog post was coming. It arrived, and it was about him buying a houseboat.

Nobody at the board is talking

As of publication, no Automattic employee had heard confirmation from the board. Mark Davies' Slack account was deactivated, according to sources.

The pirate thing

Mullenweg had already removed every Slack admin and posted about being a pirate, with cursing, which he famously never does. Asked if he was trolling, he doubled down.

“I'm not a troll I'm a pirate, obviously.”

He blames a rival's backer

On X and Reddit, Mullenweg pointed at Silver Lake, the private equity firm that majority-owns WP Engine, which is already suing him and Automattic. He said they wanted to destroy his life.

“Things are different than they appear”

One person cheering publicly

Mary Hubbard, Executive Director of WordPress.org, posted on X that she was relieved and pleased to see Mullenweg return as CEO. That is the closest thing to an outside confirmation.

Still no ground truth

Without the board on record, it is impossible to say whether Mullenweg actually regained control or is running a very loud bit. He posted an LL Cool J video and moved on.

“Boards are never boring.”