WordPress, the open-source content management system that powers more than 40 percent of all websites on the internet, is currently engaged in a fiery trademark battle with WP Engine, one of its third-party hosting services but, despite its name, not affiliated with WordPress. The spat has already cost WordPress employees and funds and could rage on for another two to three years. But Matt Mullenweg, the platform’s founder and CEO, doesn’t seem too concerned about the fallout.
“I obviously think it’s worth it,” Mullenweg said during an onstage interview at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference on Oct. 30. “We’re at war with them. We’re either going to go brick-by-brick and take every single one of their customers, or hopefully they could end this all tomorrow.”
What’s happening between WordPress and WP Engine?
Mullenweg, who founded WordPress in 2003 at the age of 19, is CEO of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com and its commercial services, and is a board member of the foundation holding the WordPress trademark. He first made his concerns surrounding WP Engine, one of the users of WordPress’s code, known in September when he released a blog post claiming the company was benefiting from WordPress’s programming but failing to contributing to its maintenance. “If you’re going to profit off the WordPress trademark, you need to be part of the WordPress ecosystem,” said Mullenweg at TechCrunch Disrupt.
Besides arguing that it was abusing WordPress’s trademark and demanding it pay licensing fees, Mullenweg has said the WP Engine, which is owned by the private equity firm Silver Lake, has cut corners for users through disabling features like its revision visibility. The spat snowballed dramatically in the following weeks, with WP Engine sending Mullenweg and Automatic a cease-and-desist letter and Mullenweg cutting WP Engine off from WordPress resources. Last month, WP Engine sued the executive and his company for abuse of power and extortion.
The Automattic CEO’s action’s haven’t been well-received amongst the broader open-source development community, who are concerned about what Mullenweg’s tirade and his so-called “scorched-earth nuclear” campaign means for other WordPress clients and the health of the software development industry.
Many of Automattic’s own employees don’t agree with its leader’s actions, as evidenced by the more than 150 workers who took a severance package from the company in October. A subsequent buyout offer saw even more employees leave Automattic, according to Mullenweg, who says his company’s headcount currently totals at around 1,700.
The ongoing drama could potentially lead to forks in WordPress, a term referring to when developers duplicate source code and independently develop with it. “There might be a fork,” said Mullenweg, who said similar scenarios have previously happened in WordPress’s history. “I think that’d be fantastic, actually, so people can have alternative governance or an alternative approach.”
One thing is for sure: WordPress is about to embark on a lengthy legal battle with WP Engine, having described WP Engine’s lawsuit as one conjured “out of thin air.” Mullenweg is prepared for the case to drag on for several years. “Worst case scenario, if we lost everything it would be kind of happening in 2026 or 2027,” he said.
Mullenweg conceded that the past couple weeks have been tough. “It’s been challenging, to be honest,” he said. Regardless, he stands by his decision to take on WP Engine. “We’ve tried the nice way for a long time. You have to fight sometimes.”
