Days after 159 people accepted Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg’s offer of a six-month severance package to employees who wanted to leave, the company floated a new offer late on October 16 of a nine-month severance package to anybody who quit immediately. Employees had four hours to decide whether they wanted to take the deal. In […]
159 employees are leaving Automattic as CEO’s fight with WP Engine escalates
Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg said on Thursday that 159 employees (roughly 8.4% of staff) accepted a severance package that the company had offered to those who disagreed with his direction of WordPress and his handling of tussle with web hosting provider WP Engine. In a blog post, Mullenweg said the package offered $ 30,000 or […]
WP Engine sues Automattic and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg
Hosting provider WP Engine has filed a lawsuit against Automattic and WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, accusing them of extortion and abuse of power. The lawsuit comes after nearly two weeks of tussling between Mullenweg, who is also CEO of Automattic, and WP Engine over trademark infringement and contributing to the WordPress community. WP Engine accused Automattic and […]
Legal ping-pong in the WordPress world continues as Automattic sends WP Engine a cease-and-desist letter alleging trademark infringement
The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks. Just a day after WordPress hosting service WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist notice to Automattic asking its CEO to stop publicly trashing WP Engine, now Automattic has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, saying the latter has […]
WP Engine sends cease-and-desist letter to Automattic over Mullenweg’s comments
WordPress hosting service WP Engine on Monday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic after the latter’s CEO Matt Mullenweg called WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress” last week. The notice asks Automattic and Mullenweg to retract their comments and stop making statements against the company. Today WP Engine sent what is called a “cease and […]