Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of the WordPress.org content management system and CEO of Automattic, concluded a successful WordCamp USA conference with a contentious keynote that drew sharp criticism towards a prominent managed WordPress web host. His statements, along with a subsequent blog post, faced an overwhelmingly negative response.
The social media reaction to his speech and blog post was so intense that at one point, “WordPress” became the top trending topic on X (formerly Twitter).
What Happened
WordPress thrives on the idea of a global community collaborating to create an open-source platform for publishing ideas. This collaborative effort has resulted in the creation of numerous jobs, enabled countless e-commerce companies, and established various markets and services, all built on the principle of community.
WordCamp is the physical gathering of the WordPress community, organized by volunteers, which allows WordPress users of all levels to connect and share ideas. Typically, it is an uplifting and inspirational event, making the unexpected controversy at the conference’s conclusion even more surprising.
Hints of the controversy appeared early on. Mullenweg published a blog post on the first day of the conference that began cheerfully but progressively took a darker tone.
He initially praised the community that powers WordPress and is responsible for WordCamp:
"If you ever have a chance to visit a WordCamp, I recommend it. It’s an amazing group of people brought together by this crazy idea that by working together regardless of our differences or where we came from or what school we went to we can be united by a simple yet groundbreaking idea: that software can give you more Freedom."
Mullenweg then criticized Meta for “disingenuously” claiming to participate in the open source movement and praised companies contributing to the open-source WordPress community through the Five for the Future program (encouraging companies to contribute 5% back to WordPress).
He pointedly criticized WP Engine for insufficient contributions to WordPress. In his conference-closing keynote, he specifically called out WP Engine by name.
Ending a Conference on a Low Note
Mullenweg asserted some companies exploit resources without reciprocating and singled out WP Engine for sponsoring only 40 hours per week of work towards improving the WordPress core.
"And there are those that treat open source simply as a resource to extract from its natural surroundings, like oil from the grounds, a finite resource, something to be extracted and used.
…a lot of this information that I’m sharing with you all has come from WP Engine employees who’ve reached out to me and talked to me about all this. So thank you all for being brave and for sharing this information that you think your company is doing something wrong.
WP Engine has good people, some of whom are listed on that page, but the company is controlled by Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102 billion in assets under management. Silver Lake doesn’t give a dang about your open source ideals, it just wants return on capital.”
Mullenweg encouraged the WordPress community to reconsider their web hosts based on these contributions. He didn’t directly call for a boycott of WP Engine, but his words implied it.
"So it’s at this point that I ask everyone in the WordPress community to go vote with your wallet. Who are you giving your money to? Someone who is going to nourish the ecosystem or someone is going to frack every bit of value out of it until it withers?
Think about that next time it comes up to renew your hosting or domain. Weigh your dollars towards companies that give back more…
Those of us who are makers who curate the source need to be wary of those who take our curations and squeeze out the juice. They’re grifters who will hop on to the next fad.”
Mullenweg noted he attempted to communicate with WP Engine beforehand but was unsuccessful.
Shocked Audience Sides With WP Engine
Near the end of his keynote, Mullenweg’s comment about a potential ban on WP Engine at future WordCamps was met with a surprising silence from the audience, with only a few applauding.
Mullenweg Doubles Down
Following his keynote, Mullenweg published an article amplifying his keynote remarks. This article also generated a largely negative response on social media, with some calling for him to step down.
"I spoke yesterday at WordCamp about how Lee Wittlinger at Silver Lake, a private equity firm with $102B assets under management, can hollow out an open source community. Today, I would like to offer a specific, technical example of how they break the trust and sanctity of our software’s promise to users to save themselves money so they can extract more profits from you.”
Backlash Overwhelmingly Against Mullenweg
A response to Mullenweg’s article took a satirical approach, substituting WP Engine with WordPress.com throughout the text. A WordPress agency owner also commented on the incident, questioning the appropriateness of Mullenweg’s approach:
"This wasn’t my first WordCamp, but I legitimately felt bad for first-timers. Imagine an awesome and uplifting week ending like the Payback scene in The Sum of All Fears… A little awkward.
…Matt has presumably attempted diplomacy multiple times in different ways over the years as he passed that collection plate around, but without great success when it comes to WP Engine.
The question now becomes, is public ridicule and shame a valid approach? And should this ridicule and shame get delivered in the closing talk at a WordCamp?”
Targeting of WP Engine Perceived As Unfair
Many pointed out that sponsoring hours for developing WordPress is just one form of contribution. Other ways that WP Engine gives back include supporting WordCamp and developing free plugins used by millions, such as Advanced Custom Fields, LocalWP, WPGraphQL, Better Search Replace, and WP Migrate Lite.
The backlash on social media is firmly against Matt Mullenweg. Many community members expressed their shock, with some calling for his resignation and others showing sympathy for WP Engine.
Watch Mullenweg’s keynote at the 7:08:25 mark (7 hours, 8 minutes, 25 seconds):
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
