Automattic

In October 2024, during the WP Engine dispute, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg offered employees a severance package of up to 9 months' pay if they disagreed with his actions and wanted to leave. 159 employees (8.4% of the workforce) accepted, a significantly higher departure rate than typical voluntary buyouts. Critics viewed it as a loyalty test that chilled internal dissent.

In September 2024, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg escalated a trademark dispute with WP Engine by publicly calling them a 'cancer to WordPress,' blocking WP Engine's access to WordPress.org resources, and demanding they pay trademark licensing fees. WP Engine sued Automattic. The dispute disrupted the WordPress ecosystem and drew widespread criticism for using control of WordPress.org infrastructure as leverage in a commercial dispute.

In early 2024, reports revealed that Automattic had sold or licensed user-generated content from Tumblr and WordPress.com to AI companies including Midjourney and OpenAI for AI model training. Users were not individually notified or given prior opt-out options. A data export tool was later provided, but critics argued it was insufficient given the retroactive nature of the data sharing.

In December 2018, Tumblr (under Verizon/Oath ownership, before Automattic's 2019 acquisition) banned all adult content, which disproportionately impacted LGBTQ+ users and sex workers who relied on the platform. Automattic acquired Tumblr in 2019 and in November 2022 partially reversed the ban, allowing some nudity. However, the moderation filters continued to flag LGBTQ+ content at higher rates than heterosexual content.

Since its founding in 2005, Automattic has operated as a fully distributed company with no central office, employing workers across 90+ countries. The company has been widely cited as a model for remote work, offering stipends for home office setups, co-working spaces, and annual meetups. CEO Matt Mullenweg has been a vocal advocate for distributed work as an equity practice.

Automattic has been the primary corporate contributor to WordPress, the open-source CMS that powers over 40% of all websites. The company employs numerous WordPress core contributors and sponsors WordCamp events globally. Automattic's commercial products (WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce) are built on top of the open-source project, and the company has historically championed GPL licensing.