The CEO of tech company Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, has offered unhappy employees a buyout package of $30,000 or six months of salary to quit the company and never return amid an ongoing dispute with competitor WP Engine.that the San Francisco-based tech company Automattic, known for its popular web-hosting site WordPress.com, has been embroiled in a weeks-long drama with competitor WP Engine.
Under the terms of the buyout, employees who chose to accept the offer would receive either $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever was higher. However, they would not be allowed to return to the company in the future. Mullenweg revealed that of the 8.4 percent of the company who took the deal, 18 individuals had salaries exceeding $200,000, meaning their pre-tax severance checks would clear $100,000.
The following weeks saw a rapid escalation of the dispute, with Mullenweg calling WP Engine a “cancer” and the two companies trading cease-and-desist letters. WP Engine’s lawyers labeled Mullenweg’s actions as “outrageous” and his statements as “false, misleading, and disparaging.” Mullenweg responded by blocking WP Engine from some WordPress tools, effectively removing certain software functions from their customers.