Automattic, the company behind WordPress, is getting a new CEO. Kind of.
Founder Matt Mullenweg is stepping into the CEO role held by Toni Schneider for the past eight years, while Schneider is taking over for Mullenweg. From the sound of it, it’s not going to be a huge change in the company’s operations.
“He’s going to focus on some of Automattic’s new products, and I’m going to take on the role of CEO,” Mullenweg says in a blog post. “Internally this isn’t a big change as our roles have always been quite fluid, and I’ve had some recent practice filling in for him for a few months last year when he was on sabbatical. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from Toni over the years and I’m looking forward to putting that into practice.”
“Besides, it’s obvious that no one in their twenties should run a company,” he adds. “They think they know everything, a fact I can now say with complete confidence now that I’m 30 and two days old.”
Schneider also blogged about the change.
“A few months ago, I started to feel a sense of completion about our early goals, coupled with a growing itch to work on some new product ideas,” he wrote. “So I turned to Matt and suggested that now felt like a good time for us to “swap jobs” and have him become Automattic’s next CEO. Matt and I have been working side-by-side, building and running Automattic over the years, and he is without a doubt one of the most talented people in tech today, so I have full confidence that Automattic will continue to thrive after we make this change. And yes, Matt did just turn 30, which makes it a fun moment in time to say that he’s finally old enough to be a CEO! As for me, I will stay at Automattic (and at True), excited to switch my focus to working on new ideas and building new products.”
It’s unclear what new projects the company has in the pipeline. According to Schneider, WordPress.com is the 8th largest site on the Internet.
Image via Matt Mullenweg (Facebook)