Biography:Matt Mullenweg

From HandWiki
Matt Mullenweg
Mullenweg in 2019
Born
Matthew Charles Mullenweg

(1984-01-11) January 11, 1984 (age 42)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Houston
Occupation
  • Web developer
  • Entrepreneur
  • Angel investor
OrganizationAutomattic
Known forCo-founding WordPress
Title
Websitema.tt

Matthew Charles Mullenweg (born January 11, 1984) is an American web developer and entrepreneur. He is known as a co-founder of the free and open-source web publishing software WordPress, and the founder of Automattic.

Early life and education

Mullenweg was born January 11, 1984, in Houston, Texas, to Chuck and Kathleen Mullenweg and grew up in the Willowbend neighborhood.[4][5][6] His older sister was born in 1974. His father, who died in 2016, was a computer programmer who worked for Brown & Root, and encouraged his children to start using home computers at an early age.[7][8] His mother was a stay-at-home mother.[9] The Mullenwegs were raised Catholic.[10] He attended Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, studying jazz and playing the saxophone.[11] Mullenweg suffered from migraines as a child that forced him to miss extended periods of school.[12] He attended the University of Houston for two years, studying philosophy and political science. He dropped out after his sophomore year in 2004 to work for CNET, which promised him that he could allocate time to the development of WordPress.[13][12]

Career

Mullenweg at WordCamp Germany 2009

Mullenweg began blogging in 2002 on the open source platform b2.[14] B2 developer Michael Valdrighi abandoned the project and Mullenweg took it over in 2003.[15] He and Mike Little created a b2 fork that year they called WordPress and published it under the GNU General Public License.[15][16][17]

In March 2003, he co-founded the Global Multimedia Protocols Group (GMPG) with Eric A. Meyer and Tantek Çelik. In April 2004, he helped launch Ping-O-Matic, a mechanism for notifying search engines about blog updates.[18]

In October 2004, he was hired by CNET who would allow him to develop WordPress part-time as part of his job. He dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco for the position.[19]

Automattic

Main article: Automattic

After leaving CNET in 2005, Mullenweg founded Automattic as a fully distributed company.[20] Toni Schneider was hired as CEO so Mullenweg could learn how to manage a large organization. During this period, Mullenweg focused on product development while Schneider managed the company.[20]

In January 2014, Mullenweg resumed the role of CEO, replacing Schneider. He led Automattic's expansion and a series of acquisitions, including WooCommerce in 2015, The Atavist Magazine in 2018, Tumblr in 2019, Pocket Casts in 2021, and Beeper in 2024.[20][21][22][23][24] Mullenweg received the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment in 2016, for "helping to democratize online publishing".[25]

Automattic's valuation reached $7.5 billion in 2021. At the time, WordPress hosted 28 million websites, or 40 percent of all websites on the Internet.[26][27]

Mullenweg at WordCamp Bulgaria 2011

On September 9, 2026, Automattic's board of directors put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence. The board named Automattic's chief financial officer, Mark Davies, as interim CEO.[28] Two days later, Mullenweg announced on a company-wide message board that he was once again "in control of Automattic".[29] Automattic later confirmed his return as CEO.[30]

Following Mullenweg's return, several members of Automattic's previous board departed. Toni Schneider and Sue Decker resigned from the board, while Mullenweg removed Ann Dunwoody. Mark Davies and Automattic's chief legal officer, Andy Missan, also left the company. [31] On September 25, Automattic announced a new board consisting of author Hugh Howey, author Amy Chan, and IRL co-founders Henry Khachatryan and Krutal Desai. [32]

Public disputes

On several occasions, Mullenweg has publicly challenged competitors to WordPress and WordPress.com. He has stated that he prefers to settle disputes in the court of public opinion and described his approach as "brinksmanship", noting that the potential cost of legal action could put Automattic in a "tough spot".[33]

In 2008, shortly before WordPress 2.5's release, Six Apart's Movable Type published "A WordPress 2.5 Upgrade Guide"—a comparison of their CMS with their rival, WordPress—as a company blog article that Mullenweg characterized as "desperate and dirty".[34][35][36] In 2013, developers on the digital marketplace Envato were banned from speaking at WordPress events after he criticized the platform for selling WordPress themes with the graphics and CSS components under a proprietary license instead of the GPL.[37]

Mullenweg being interviewed at WordCamp 2017

In 2016, Mullenweg accused Wix.com, a competitor to WordPress.com, of reusing WordPress's mobile text editor code in Wix's own mobile app without adhering to the terms of the GPL. Despite the license's requirement to publish anything built with GPL code under the GPL, Wix's CEO claimed that the company open-sourced their forked version of the component and satisfied the license's terms[38][39] before the app switched to its own fork of the MIT-licensed text editor that the WordPress editor was based upon. The new fork added a clause to the MIT license that forbids redistribution under any other license.[40]

In 2022, Mullenweg criticized GoDaddy for not reinvesting in the WordPress project sufficiently.[41]

Mullenweg at the 2024 TechCrunch Disrupt

On January 9, 2025, the representative of the WordPress Sustainability team, Thijs Buijs, resigned via WordPress.org’s Slack channel, citing dissatisfaction with Matt Mullenweg’s December 24, 2024, Reddit post titled “What drama should I create in 2025?” highlighting concerns about what he described as “unsustainable leadership”.[42] In response, Matt Mullenweg thanked Thijs Buijs for reminding him of the existence of a sustainability team, announced its disbanding, and subsequently closed Wordpress.org's #sustainability Slack channel.[42]

Tumblr

Mullenweg began a three-month sabbatical from his role as CEO at the beginning of February 2024.[43] During that time, Mullenweg engaged in a public feud with a transgender Tumblr user who, frustrated with the failure of Tumblr (owned by Automattic) to address transphobic harassment, posted that she wished Mullenweg would die in a comedic way. The user was subsequently banned. Responding to user uproar, Mullenweg addressed the ban in posts on his personal Tumblr blog, in which he characterized the post as a death threat, and shared private account information about the user. Mullenweg also responded to individual commenters on Tumblr in posts and direct messages, and went to Twitter to respond to the banned user's tweets about the situation.[44][45] A few days later, transgender employees of Tumblr and Automattic made a post on the official Tumblr staff blog characterizing his response as "unwarranted and harmful" and stating that he did not speak on their behalf. They also said that the user's post was not a realistic threat of violence and not the reason for her ban.[46]

WP Engine dispute

This section is an excerpt from WP Engine § WordPress dispute and lawsuit[ edit ]

Audrey Capital

Mullenweg is a principal at angel investment firm Audrey Capital, which he co-founded in 2008 alongside Naveen Selvadurai and Audrey Kim.[47]

As of 2024, the company lists investments in companies such as CoinDesk, MakerBot, Sonos, SpaceX, Ring, as well as software companies including Calm, Chartbeat, DailyBurn, Memrise, Genius, Nord Security and Telegram. It has also funded startups that provide services to web developers including Creative Market, GitLab, NPM, SendGrid, Stripe and Typekit.[47] From 2017 to 2019, Mullenweg also served as a board member for GitLab.[48]

Mullenweg has employed a team of contributors to WordPress through Audrey Capital since 2010, who work separately from Automattic.[49][50]

On the 20th anniversary of WordPress' initial release, Mullenweg announced a scholarship program aimed at the children of significant contributors to open-source projects.[51]

See also

References

  1. ↑ A new CEO for Automattic . Toni.org. Retrieved on May 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Projects". January 22, 2010. https://wordpressfoundation.org/projects/. 
  3. ↑ Solomon, Benjamin (April 1, 2014). "WordPress' Matt Mullenweg on Calm, Childish Gambino, and Giving Up His iPhone for Lent". Vanity Fair. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/tech/2014/04/wordpress-matt-mullenweg-calm-childish-gambino. Retrieved September 27, 2024. 
  4. ↑ Silverman, Dwight (March 22, 2019). "WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg's distributed company is neither here nor there - it's everywhere". Houston Chronicle. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/texas-inc/article/Matt-Mullenweg-s-virtual-company-Automattic-is-13708522.php. Retrieved October 24, 2024. 
  5. ↑ Hardigree, Matt (January 27, 2006). "Matt Mullenweg, the Houstonian behind WordPress". Houstonist. http://www.houstonist.com/2006/01/27/houstonist_inte_1.php. Retrieved October 29, 2024. 
  6. ↑ Kaplan, David (August 6, 2012). "Houston-born blog guru stays true to his roots". Houston Chronicle. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Houston-born-blog-guru-stays-true-to-his-roots-3763218.php. Retrieved October 24, 2024. 
  7. ↑ "Obituary information for Louis Charles Mullenweg, IV". August 13, 1947. https://www.schmidtfuneralhome.net/obituaries/Louis-Charles-Mullenweg-Iv?obId=32435971. 
  8. ↑ "In Memoriam: Chuck Mullenweg". April 21, 2016. https://ma.tt/2016/04/in-memoriam-chuck-mullenweg/. 
  9. ↑ Hassan, Anita (September 28, 2016). "WordPress founder finds inspiration in his hometown of Houston". Houston Chronicle. https://www.chron.com/local/history/innovators-inventions/article/Wordpress-founder-finds-inspiration-in-his-9403035.php. Retrieved October 24, 2024. 
  10. ↑ Barkham, Patrick (November 4, 2006). "WordPress, Matt Mullenweg". https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/nov/04/blogging.opensource. 
  11. ↑ Cadelago, Chris (July 17, 2008). "Founder of blog platform gets venture funding". SF Gate. https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Founder-of-blog-platform-gets-venture-funding-3203963.php. Retrieved October 24, 2024. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Matusow, Cathy (October 28, 2004). "The Blog Age". Houston Press. http://www.houstonpress.com/2004-10-28/news/the-blog-age/full/. Retrieved October 29, 2024. 
  13. ↑ Silverman, Dwight (January 24, 2008). "The importance of being Matt". Houston Chronicle. https://blog.chron.com/techblog/2008/01/the-importance-of-being-matt/. Retrieved October 29, 2024. 
  14. ↑ Matusow, Cathy (October 28, 2004). "The Blog Age". Houston Press. http://www.houstonpress.com/2004-10-28/news/the-blog-age/full/. Retrieved October 29, 2024. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Hassan, Anita (September 28, 2016). "WordPress founder finds inspiration in his hometown of Houston". Houston Chronicle. https://www.chron.com/local/history/innovators-inventions/article/Wordpress-founder-finds-inspiration-in-his-9403035.php. Retrieved October 24, 2024. 
  16. ↑ Skeen, Dan (March 27, 2007). "Building a better blogosphere". The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/technology/building-a-better-blogosphere-20070327-gdprr0.html. Retrieved October 29, 2024. 
  17. ↑ Gallagher, Sean (November 1, 2016). "Wix gets caught "stealing" GPL code from WordPress". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/11/wordpress-and-wix-trade-shots-over-alleged-theft-of-open-source-code/. Retrieved October 10, 2024. 
  18. ↑ "Spring Ping Thing". Photo Matt. April 19, 2004. http://photomatt.net/2004/04/19/spring-ping-thing/. 
  19. ↑ Matt (October 28, 2004). "Houston Press and CNET" (in en-US). https://ma.tt/2004/10/press-and-cnet/. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/automattic-tc1-origin/. 
  21. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin (June 21, 2018). "WordPress.com Owner Buys Atavist, Maker of Subscription-Offering Publishing Software". The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wordpress-com-owner-buys-atavist-maker-of-subscription-offering-publishing-software-1529597700. 
  22. ↑ Carman, Ashley (July 16, 2021). "Automattic, owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com, buys podcast app Pocket Casts". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/16/22580023/automattic-pocket-casts-podcast-app-tumble-wordpress. 
  23. ↑ Sandler, Rachel (August 12, 2019). "Verizon To Sell Tumblr To Wordpress Owner". Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/08/12/verizon-to-sell-tumblr-to-wordpress-owner/. 
  24. ↑ Pierce, David (April 9, 2024). "Beeper was just acquired by Automattic, which has big plans for the future of messaging". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/9/24124179/beeper-app-automattic-acquisition-matrix-messaging. 
  25. ↑ Mandak, Joe (September 14, 2016). "'Trombone Shorty,' 4 others receive $250,000 Heinz Awards". The Washington Times. Associated Press. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/14/trombone-shorty-4-others-receive-250000-heinz-awar/. 
  26. ↑ Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "Can social and e-commerce transform the future of the open web?". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/automattic-tc1-acquisitions/. 
  27. ↑ Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "There's nothing Automattic about balancing commercial growth with an open source developer community". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/19/automattic-tc1-developers/. 
  28. ↑ Cole, Samantha (September 9, 2026). "Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg Put on 'Leave of Absence'". 404 Media. https://www.404media.co/wordpress-automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg-put-on-leave-of-absence/. 
  29. ↑ "Matt Mullenweg tells Automattic staff in Slack he's back 'in control' after CEO ouster". TechCrunch. September 11, 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/11/matt-mullenweg-tells-automattic-staff-in-slack-hes-back-in-control-after-ceo-ouster/. 
  30. ↑ "Automattic confirms Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted ouster by board". TechCrunch. September 12, 2026. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/12/automattic-confirms-mullenweg-has-returned-as-ceo-after-attempted-ouster-by-board/. 
  31. ↑ Parez, Sarah (14 September 2026). "Sources say Automattic’s board is out after failed attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/14/sources-say-automattics-board-is-out-after-failed-attempt-to-oust-ceo-matt-mullenweg/. 
  32. ↑ Parez, Sarah (25 September 2026). "Automattic has a new board after failed attempt to put CEO on leave". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/25/automattic-has-a-new-board-after-failed-attempt-to-put-ceo-on-leave/. 
  33. ↑ Guy Raz (March 21, 2022). "WordPress & Automattic: Matt Mullenweg". How I Built This (Podcast). Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  34. ↑ Calore, Michael (March 13, 2008). "Blog Fight! WordPress and Movable Type Square Off" (in en-US). Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. https://www.wired.com/2008/03/blog-fight-wordpress-and-movable-type-square-off/. Retrieved October 2, 2024. 
  35. ↑ Arrington, Michael (March 11, 2008). "Six Apart Takes Aim At Wordpress Users; Wordpress Pissed" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2008/03/11/six-apart-takes-aim-at-wordpress-users-wordpress-pissed/. 
  36. ↑ Dash, Anil (March 10, 2008). "A WordPress 2.5 Upgrade Guide". https://www.movabletype.com/blog/2008/03/a-wordpress-25-upgrade-guide.html. 
  37. ↑ Weber, Harrison (January 23, 2013). "WordPress.org Bans Themeforest Members from WordCamp" (in en). https://thenextweb.com/news/wordpress-org-bans-themeforest-authors-from-participating-in-official-wordcamp-gatherings. 
  38. ↑ Gallagher, Sean (November 1, 2016). "Wix gets caught "stealing" GPL code from WordPress" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/11/wordpress-and-wix-trade-shots-over-alleged-theft-of-open-source-code/. 
  39. ↑ Yeung, Ken (October 28, 2016). "WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg slams Wix: 'Your app editor is built with stolen code'" (in en-US). https://venturebeat.com/mobile/wordpress-creator-matt-mullenweg-slams-wix-your-app-editor-is-built-with-stolen-code/. 
  40. ↑ Gooding, Sarah (January 21, 2017), "Wix Removes GPL-Licensed WordPress Code from Mobile App, Forks Original MIT Library" (in en-US), WP Tavern, https://wptavern.com/wix-removes-gpl-licensed-wordpress-code-from-mobile-app-forks-original-mit-library, retrieved October 3, 2024 
  41. ↑ Sawers, Paul (September 22, 2024), "Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' and urges community to switch providers" (in en-US), TechCrunch, https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/22/matt-mullenweg-calls-wp-engine-a-cancer-to-wordpress-and-urges-community-to-switch-providers/, retrieved September 24, 2024 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Keverenge, Hillary (January 9, 2025). "WordPress sustainability team disbanded after Matt Mullenweg's Reddit drama". https://techissuestoday.com/wordpress-sustainability-team-disbanded-after-matt-mullenweg-reddit-drama/. 
  43. ↑ Mullenweg, Matt (February 2, 2024). "Samattical" (in en-US). https://ma.tt/2024/02/samattical/. 
  44. ↑ Silberling, Amanda (February 23, 2024). "Tumblr CEO publicly spars with trans user over account ban, revealing private account names in the process" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/22/tumblr-ceo-publicly-spars-with-trans-user-over-account-ban-revealing-private-account-names-in-the-process/. 
  45. ↑ de Luna, Elizabeth (February 24, 2024). "Tumblr CEO's public 'meltdown' is mocked, memed by users" (in en). https://mashable.com/article/tumblr-transphobia-matt-mullenweg. 
  46. ↑ "A message from a few of the trans staff at Tumblr & Automattic" (in en-US). February 24, 2024. https://staff.tumblr.com/post/743224389484625920/a-message-from-a-few-of-the-trans-staff-at-tumblr. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Audrey Capital". https://audrey.co/. 
  48. ↑ "WordPress Founder Matt Mullenweg Joins the GitLab Board as Company Momentum Hits an All-Time High". GitLab, Inc.. https://about.gitlab.com/press/releases/2017-10-09-gitlab-raises-c-round.html. 
  49. ↑ "The WordPress Foundation" (in en-US). November 25, 2015. https://wordpress.org/book/2015/11/the-wordpress-foundation/. 
  50. ↑ "EP484 – Whose WordPress is it anyway? – WPwatercooler" (in en-US). June 20, 2024. https://www.wpwatercooler.com/wpwatercooler/ep484-whose-wordpress-is-it-anyway/. 
  51. ↑ "Audrey Scholars" (in en-US). May 25, 2023. https://audrey.co/scholars/. 
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