Executive Director of WordPress Resigns Amid Internal Turmoil

Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of the WordPress project, has announced her resignation, ending a nine-year tenure that saw significant growth and transformation in the platform. Her decision to step down follows a period of escalating tensions within the WordPress ecosystem, highlighted by a legal battle involving Matt Mullenweg, the co-founder of WordPress, and WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting company.

Haden Chomphosy made the announcement through an optimistic post on her personal blog, where she reaffirmed her belief in the strength of the open source community and emphasized the power of “strong opinions, loosely held.”

In her farewell statement, she wrote:

"This week marks my last as the Executive Director of the WordPress project. My time with WordPress has transformed me, both as a leader and an advocate. There’s still more to do in our shared quest to secure a self-sustaining future for the open source project that we all love, and my belief in our global community of contributors remains unchanged."

Haden Chomphosy emphasized the continued importance of open source projects, particularly their potential to drive economic opportunities and foster equitable access to knowledge, learning, and business networks.

A Rocky Time for WordPress

Haden Chomphosy’s resignation comes at a challenging time for WordPress. Just weeks prior, Mullenweg launched a controversial campaign against WP Engine, accusing the host of practices that went against the ethos of open source software. In response, WP Engine filed a federal lawsuit, accusing Mullenweg and Automattic, the parent company behind WordPress.com, of attempted extortion.

This legal conflict has shaken the WordPress community, leading to internal strife, with many questioning the future direction of the project. Haden Chomphosy, while not directly implicated in this controversy, steps down at a moment when WordPress is grappling with these deep divides.

Resignation Leak Causes Stir

Although Haden Chomphosy intended to announce her departure publicly, news of her resignation was leaked on October 2nd by Jeff Chandler, founder of WP Tavern, a WordPress news site now owned by Mullenweg. Chandler revealed that he had spoken to Haden Chomphosy the night before, confirming her exit from Automattic.

Following the leak, Haden Chomphosy responded on Twitter, stating:

“Ok, this is not how I expected that news to come to y’all. I apologize that this is the first many of you heard of it. Please don’t speculate about anything.”

Broader Context: Discontent at Automattic

Haden Chomphosy’s resignation is part of a broader wave of unrest within Automattic. Earlier this year, the company offered a generous severance package to employees who no longer wished to remain at the company. As a result, around 8.4% of Automattic’s workforce opted to leave, raising questions about employee satisfaction and internal dynamics at the organization.

While Haden Chomphosy’s departure may not have been directly related to these issues, her exit symbolizes a period of upheaval and uncertainty for WordPress and its parent company. As the community looks forward, the next leadership phase will be crucial in determining the project’s trajectory, especially given its central role in the world of open source software and web development.