Matt Mullenweg—Matt Mullenweg blocked WP Engine from WordPress.org, triggering lawsuits and community crisis
In September 2024, Mullenweg publicly attacked WP Engine as a 'cancer to WordPress' and demanded 8% of revenue ($32M) as trademark licensing. When WP Engine declined, he blocked their access to WordPress.org, disrupting over a million websites. He then seized WP Engine's ACF plugin without review. WP Engine sued for extortion, unfair competition, and defamation. A court granted a preliminary injunction restoring WP Engine's access. 159 Automattic employees (8.4%) took buyout packages to leave.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust & Competition | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Infrastructure Accountability | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Open Source | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.664 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (1 signal)
Mullenweg blocked WP Engine, demanded 8% of revenue, 159 employees left Automattic
Mullenweg called WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress,' blocked their access to WordPress.org disrupting 1M+ sites, demanded $32M in trademark licensing, and seized the ACF plugin. WP Engine sued for extortion and unfair competition. A court granted preliminary injunction. 159 Automattic employees (8.4%) took buyouts to leave.