Automattic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from IntenseDebate)

Template:Short description Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Distinguish".

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox company/styles.css has no content.

Automattic Inc.
Company type
Private
ISINScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
IndustryScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
PredecessorScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
IncorporatedScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
FoundedScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
FounderScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
DefunctScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
SuccessorScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, US
Key people
Matt Mullenweg (CEO, president)
ProductsPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
RevenueScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
Script error: No such module "WikidataIB".
Script error: No such module "WikidataIB".
Total assetsScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
Number of employees
Script error: No such module "WikidataIB".
ParentScript error: No such module "WikidataIB".
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.
ASNExpression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".Template:Wdib Template:Edit at Wikidata
Websiteautomattic.com

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".

Automattic Inc. is an American global distributed company most notable for WordPress.com and its contributions to the WordPress system. The company was founded in 2005.[2]

Automattic's other brands and products include Akismet, Gravatar, BuddyPress,[3] Simplenote, WooCommerce,[4] Atavist,[5] Tumblr,[6] Parse.ly,[7] Day One,[8] Pocket Casts,[9] and Beeper.[10]

History

Matt Mullenweg co-founded the open-source blogging platform WordPress in 2003. Two years later, he founded Automattic to monetize the platform.[11]

Initially the company developed commercial products related to WordPress, including WordPress.com for WordPress-managed hosting and the spam filtering service Akismet.[12] Toni Schneider, a former executive at Yahoo, became chief executive officer (CEO) in 2006.[12][13] Automattic acquired Gravatar in 2007, then IntenseDebate and PollDaddy in 2008.[14][15]

Automattic transferred the WordPress source code and trademarks to the WordPress Foundation in 2010 and it also acquired the prompt generator Plinky.[16][17] In 2011, the company created Jetpack, a WordPress extension.[15]

Automattic acquired Lean Domain Search and CloudUp in 2013.[18][19] In 2014, Automattic raised $160 million in a venture round, acquired Longreads, and Mullenweg became CEO.[20][12] Schneider remained as an adviser while Mullenweg led product development.[13] Automattic acquired WooCommerce and relaunched the hosted version of its content manager, WordPress.com, in 2015.[12][21] This version replaced PHP with JavaScript and simplified administrative design. Automattic also launched a WordPress application with Mac support.[21]

Automattic's 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.[22]

On November 21, 2016, Automattic managed the launch and development of the .blog gTLD.[23]

The former office of Automattic at 140 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco in July 2017 (since closed)

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.[24]

Automattic acquired Atavist Magazine in 2018.[25] The following year, it raised $300 million in a Series D funding round led by Salesforce Ventures in 2019, giving it a $3 billion valuation. The 2019 round of funding brought the total amount raised by Automattic to more than $600 million since its founding.[26] Verizon sold Tumblr to Automattic in August 2019 for approximately $3 million.[27][28] As part of the acquisition, Automattic retained approximately 200 Tumblr staffers.[28] The same year, Google and Automattic partnered to create Newspack, a publishing platform for local news organizations. Google, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the Knight Foundation, and Civil Media invested $2.2 million in the project.[29][30]

The COVID-19 pandemic boosted Automattic's growth as more businesses moved online.[31] In August 2020, Automattic released P2, a collaboration platform with a blog-like interface, designed for asynchronous distributed teams.[32] That year, Automattic had approximately 1,200 employees.[33] By 2021, Automattic's valuation reached $7.5 billion. At the time, the WordPress open-source software was powering 28 million websites, or 40 percent of all websites on the Internet that used a content management system (CMS).[34][35] Automattic acquired the journaling app Day One and Frontity, a React framework for WordPress website development, and podcast streaming service Pocket Casts in July 2021.[36][37][38] The following year, it acquired Parse.ly in its largest deal to date.[39] The company launched the Jetpack AI Assistant for WordPress in 2023.[40]

Automattic acquired multiservice messaging apps Texts in 2023.[41] The company purchased messaging app Beeper, grammar checking tool Harper, and WordPress artificial intelligence plugin maker WPAI in 2024.[42][43][44] Automattic was included in the 2024 Forbes Cloud 100 list.[45] In February 2024, it was reported that the company would begin selling user data from Tumblr and WordPress.com to Midjourney and OpenAI.[46]

On April 2, 2025, the company announced a restructuring that resulted in the layoff of 16% of its workforce, or 281 positions.[47]

WP Engine dispute and lawsuit

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". 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.[48] 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.[49] The next month, Mullenweg made another offer, this time of nine months' salary.[50]

Corporate affairs

As of December 2024, Automattic's board consisted of the following directors:[51]

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About Us". Automattic. July 23, 2005. Archived from the original on December 11, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2025.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mullenweg, Matt (September 9, 2010). "A New Home for the WordPress Trademark". ma.tt. Archived from the original on December 9, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Forrester, Mark (May 19, 2015). "WooThemes Joins Automattic". The WooCommerce Blog. Archived from the original on November 29, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Automattic, Parent Company of WordPress.com, Acquires Atavist Publishing Platform and Award-Winning Magazine". PR Newswire. June 21, 2018. Archived from the original on October 1, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gooding, Sarah (August 13, 2019). "Automattic Acquires Tumblr, Plans to Rebuild the Backend Powered by WordPress". wptavern.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mullenweg, Matt (February 8, 2021). "Parse.ly & Automattic". ma.tt. Archived from the original on October 13, 2024. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perez, Sarah (June 14, 2021). "WordPress.com owner Automattic acquires journaling app Day One". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Budelli, Eli (July 16, 2021). "Popular Podcast App Pocket Casts Joins Automattic". WordPress.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pierce, David (April 9, 2024). "Beeper was just acquired by Automattic, which has big plans for the future of messaging". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 25, 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sawers, Paul (September 22, 2024). "Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' and urges community to switch providers". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Farr, Christina (January 13, 2014). "WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg to take over Automattic as CEO". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Burns, Matt (August 19, 2013). "GitHub Co-Founder And CEO Tom Preston-Werner To Speak At Disrupt SF". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brodkin, Jon (October 3, 2024). "Automattic demanded web host pay $32M annually for using WordPress trademark". Ars Technica. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rao, Leena (June 25, 2010). "Automattic Buys Up Thing Labs' Plinky To Help Bloggers Overcome Writer's Block". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kelly, Meghan (September 25, 2013). "WordPress to get collaborative post editing after CloudUp acquisition". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lardinois, Frederic (July 15, 2013). "Automattic Acqui-Hires Lean Domain Search To Improve Its Domain Registration Service". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kolodny, Lora (May 5, 2014). "Automattic Valued at $1.16 Billion, Says It Doesn't Need IPO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Weber, Harrison (November 23, 2015). "Automattic revamps and open-sources WordPress.com". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Scott Berkun (September 10, 2013). The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work. Wiley. ISBN 978-1-118-66063-8.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."About Knock Knock, WHOIS There". .blog. April 13, 2016. Archived from the original on September 30, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Staley, Oliver (June 12, 2017). "Wordpress's owner is closing its San Francisco office because its employees never show up". Quartz. Archived from the original on November 13, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mullin, Benjamin (June 21, 2018). "WordPress.com Owner Buys Atavist, Maker of Subscription-Offering Publishing Software". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sawers, Paul (September 19, 2019). "WordPress.com parent Automattic raises $300 million from Salesforce at a $3 billion valuation". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sandler, Rachel (August 12, 2019). "Verizon To Sell Tumblr To Wordpress Owner". Forbes. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  28. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Siegel, Rachel (August 13, 2019). "Tumblr once sold for $1.1 billion. The owner of WordPress just bought the site for a fraction of that". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 1, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Southern, Matt (January 14, 2019). "Google is Partnering With WordPress to Develop a News Publishing Platform". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved March 11, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Google Partners Automattic, WordPress to Create 'Newspack' Publishing Platform for Local News Publishers". Gadgets 360. Indo-Asian News Service. January 15, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sawers, Paul (August 6, 2020). "Automattic launches P2, a WordPress-powered collaboration tool for remote teams". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  33. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Shah, Agam (March 12, 2020). "Working Remotely Requires Cultural Change, Executives Say". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  34. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "Can social and e-commerce transform the future of the open web?". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  35. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Morrison, Chris (October 19, 2021). "There's nothing Automattic about balancing commercial growth with an open source developer community". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  36. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perez, Sarah (June 14, 2021). "WordPress.com owner Automattic acquires journaling app Day One". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  37. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sawers, Paul (August 30, 2021). "Automattic acqui-hires the team behind Frontity, a React framework for WordPress". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  38. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Carman, Ashley (July 16, 2021). "Automattic, owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com, buys podcast app Pocket Casts/A new home for the popular podcast app". The Verge. Retrieved May 27, 2025.
  39. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Prang, Allison (February 8, 2021). "WordPress VIP Buying Content Analytics Firm Parse.ly". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  40. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mehta, Ivan (June 7, 2023). "Automattic launches an AI writing assistant for WordPress". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  41. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pierce, David (October 24, 2023). "Automattic is acquiring Texts and betting big on the future of messaging". The Verge. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  42. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Pierce, David (April 9, 2024). "Beeper was just acquired by Automattic, which has big plans for the future of messaging". The Verge. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
  43. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perez, Sarah (November 21, 2024). "WordPress.com owner Automattic snaps up grammar checker Harper". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  44. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mehta, Ivan (December 9, 2024). "Automattic acquires WPAI, a startup that makes AI products for WordPress". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 10, 2024.
  45. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cai, Kendrick; Konrad, Alex, eds. (August 6, 2024). "Forbes Cloud 100 No. 71: Automattic". Forbes. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  46. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cole, Samantha (February 27, 2024). "Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users' Data to Train AI Tools". 404 Media. Archived from the original on December 1, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  47. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perez, Sarah (April 2, 2025). "WordPress maker Automattic lays off 16% of staff". TechCrunch. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  48. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mehta, Ivan (September 26, 2024). "The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 11, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
  49. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Roth, Emma (October 4, 2024). "WordPress co-founder is paying employees to leave if they disagree with him". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 27, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  50. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cole, Samantha (October 17, 2024). "Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos". 404 Media. Archived from the original on December 12, 2024. Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  51. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Board of Directors". Automattic. September 25, 2018. Archived from the original on December 6, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.

Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons

Template:Automattic Inc. Template:Tumblr navbox Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Automattic&oldid=1694999#Projects"