Automattic names interim CFO after exec departures

In Brief

Automattic has a new interim Chief Financial Officer: Jeremy Klaperman, the CFO of the company’s WordPress VIP Enterprise business unit. The news, shared internally on Friday, follows last week’s attempted ouster of Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg, which ultimately resulted in the departure of the board members who voted him out and other executives, including then-CFO Mark Davies. Davies was briefly interim CEO before Mullenweg retook the position.

In a Slack post, Mullenweg shared that Klaperman had previously acted as Automattic CFO when Davies had been on sabbatical. He noted that the board — whose new members have yet to be announced — will still need to evaluate internal and external candidates for the position before a final decision is made.

In addition, Mullenweg said in the post that a candidate to become the company’s Chief Legal Officer had also just verbally accepted the position, replacing Chief Legal Officer Andy Missan, who has also since left the company alongside Davies. TechCrunch recently reported that Davies and Missan had signed reciprocal severance deals during Mullenweg’s 33-hour leave of absence before he returned as CEO.

“I have 100% confidence in our cash and financial position,” Mullenweg’s post concluded, adding “There is still work to do, but everything is within our control and depends only on Automattic’s ability to execute.”

In subsequent updates, Mullenweg also said to “stay tuned” for board announcements, and noted that special advisor and creator of Wolfram|Alpha, Stephen Wolfram, will continue in his position. The company’s next board meeting is scheduled for September 23.

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