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American web development company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Automattic Inc. is an American global distributed company which was founded in August 2005 and is most notable for WordPress.com (a freemium blogging service), as well as its contributions to WordPress (an open source blogging software). The company's name is a play on founder Matt Mullenweg's first name and the word "automatic".[2]
This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (July 2024) |
It has been suggested that WordPress.com be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2024. |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry |
|
Founded | 2005 | , in the United States
Founder | Matt Mullenweg |
Headquarters | San Francisco, California, US |
Key people | Matt Mullenweg (CEO, president) |
Products | |
Number of employees | 1,733 (2024[1]) |
ASN | 2635 |
Website | automattic.com |
On January 11, 2006, it was announced that Toni Schneider would be leaving Yahoo! to become CEO of Automattic. He was previously CEO of Oddpost before it was acquired by Yahoo!, where he had continued as a senior executive.[3][4]
In April 2006, Automattic's Regulation D filing showed it had raised approximately $1.1 million in funding,[5] which Mullenweg addressed in his blog. Investors were Polaris Ventures, True Ventures, and Radar Partners.[2]
On September 9, 2010, Automattic gave the WordPress trademark and control over bbPress and BuddyPress to the WordPress Foundation.[6]
Its remote working culture was the topic of a participative journalism project by Scott Berkun, resulting in the 2013 book The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work.[7]
On November 21, 2016, Automattic, via a subsidiary company (Knock Knock, WHOIS There) managed the launch and later development of the .blog gTLD, thus becoming a domain registrar.[8]
In 2017, Automattic announced that it would close its San Francisco office, which had served as an optional co-working space for its employees alongside similar spaces near Portland, Maine and in Cape Town, South Africa.[9]
In August 2019, Automattic closed a deal with Verizon Media to acquire Tumblr.[10] Mullenweg stated that he saw Tumblr as an "on-ramp" for WordPress adoption.[11]
In September of the same year, Automattic announced a Series D funding round of $300 million from Salesforce, increasing its valuation to US$3 billion.[12]
Ending in February 2021, Automattic brought in US$288 million from a primary funding round. Subsequently, the company participated in a stock buyback, with the company valued at US$7.5 billion.[13]
In February 2024, it was reported that the company would begin selling user data from Tumblr and WordPress.com to Midjourney and OpenAI.[14]
Towards the end of September 2024, Automattic was involved in a controversy with WP Engine, in which Automattic claimed WP Engine used the WordPress trademark in a way that confused consumers. One of the main claims made is that WP Engine does not pay trademark royalties to the WordPress Foundation.[15] Over 8 percent of Automattic's staff resigned after CEO Matt Mullenweg offered $30,000 or six months' salary as severance to those who disagreed with his stance.[16] The next month, Mullenweg made another offer, this time of nine months' salary.[17]
Some notable Automattic brands and products include:
As of October 2024[update], Automattic's board consisted of the following directors:
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