There’s an interesting battle in the WordPress world this week. It seems that Matt Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress and founder of Automattic, said some strong words about WP Engine at the recent WordCamp US 2024 in Portland. According to a techcrunch.com article written by Paul Sawers, Matt claimed that “WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate.” Matt went into detail in a follow-up post, where he said, “Their branding, marketing, advertising, and entire promise to customers is that they’re giving you WordPress, but they’re not.”
Most Trusted WordPress Platform?
On a quick google search, WP Engine’s first link says it’s the “Most Trusted WordPress Platform.” I don’t agree with that statement, but maybe there are people who would. For those who don’t know any better, or are new to WordPress, it could be misleading. But WP Engine has always tried to appear to be an official WordPress service. So, even though Matt has a point, why is he grumbling now? He also called WP Engine a “cancer to WordPress.” I’ve heard some negative things about their lackluster service, but a cancer? Really, lol.
In response to Matt’s speech at WordCamp, WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist letter to Automattic, asking them to stop saying bad things about the company. Oh, lordy! You can read about that here.
Automattic responded with the announcement that they are taking legal action against the “Unauthorized Use of WordPress Foundation and WooCommerce, Inc. Intellectual Property.” I guess when your company is making millions and their company is making millions, what else can you do but hire lawyers to duke it out in court? Or better yet, work out a nice fat settlement! WP Tavern has details on the legal action, including some social media comments.
Managed WordPress
Then, there’s the application filed to trademark the term “Managed WordPress”. You can see the application here. WordPress.com offers Managed WordPress hosting, but I doubt there could be a claim of ownership at this point because the term is used by so many other web hosting companies. Services vary from host to host and all kinds of random things can fall under “Managed WordPress”. So, I’m betting no on the trademark attempt. Plus, according to the USPTO website, it can take seven to eight months for an application to even be reviewed. Good luck, Matt.
What is This Really About?
As for the legal action, we don’t know the full back-story, but Matt seems to want WP Engine to pay a licensing fee for the use of the WordPress name in their advertising. There’s obviously something else going on because this feels too childish and contrived. More personal than business. But then, you know what they say…business is personal.
No matter how this ends up, it puts a smudge on the WordPress brand. Let’s hope they work it out. I’ve been building with WordPress since 2005 and look forward to the continued growth and development of the software. Along with that, Automattic creates some excellent WordPress plugins.
WP Engine and Silver Lake?
I find it intriguing that WP Engine is controlled by a global private equity firm called Silver Lake, which manages $100+ billion in assets.
Silver Lake was founded in 1999, and among its other holdings are Expedia Group, Airbnb, Verily, AMC, Software AG, Group 42, and Diamond Baseball Holdings. Some of Silver Lake’s founders were Jim Davidson (Hambrecht & Quist), David Roux (Liberate Technologies, Oracle), Roger McNamee (Integral Capital Partners), and Glenn Hutchins (Blackstone Group). Hmmm….Blackstone seems to have tendrils everywhere.
Speaking of which, why is it that everything seems to be controlled by “private equity firms” these days? Their influence is all over the place — from driving up real estate prices to pushing SaaS pay-forever business models. Greed rules the day.
That might be the real reason Matt has his knickers in a knot. Open-source development thrives when everyone contributes freely and collaboratively. Rock-star developers can monetize what they create, but everything is intertwined in the open-source ecosystem. Private equity firms and high-dollar investors don’t belong in that world, in my humble opinion. They don’t care about quality or creativity or integrity. Only profits.
So, what’s next? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll add updates here if there are any new developments in the Automattic vs. WP Engine story.