Automattic interim CFO Jeremy Klaperman has resigned after less than a month in the role, deepening the governance turmoil at the company behind WordPress.com. Klaperman was elevated in September after a governance crisis; he resigned this week.
According to a company source cited by TechCrunch, Klaperman was upset that the board was considering external CFO candidates and never legally approved his interim title. A separate disagreement with CEO Matt Mullenweg over an employee performance-review project led Mullenweg to demote him back to VIP CFO, and Klaperman resigned shortly after.
The context is extraordinary. Former CFO Mark Davies briefly held the role after the board put Mullenweg on leave in September; within 33 hours Mullenweg retook the CEO job and the entire board quit or was fired. Davies and chief legal officer Andy Missan, who had signed reciprocal severance deals during Mullenweg’s leave, both left. Automattic confirmed Klaperman’s departure in a statement from communications director Megan Fox and an X post on October 9, and an external CFO search is ongoing.
The new board announced in late September includes sci-fi author Hugh Howey, IRL co-founders Henry Khachatryan and Krutal Desai, and author Amy Chan. For the WordPress ecosystem, which depends on Automattic’s stewardship, the unresolved finance leadership is a live risk.