Automattic's interim CEO Mark Davies and Chief Legal Officer Andy Missan signed reciprocal severance agreements for each other during the brief 33-hour window in which founder Matt Mullenweg was ousted from the top job by the company's board. Mullenweg has accused Davies of conspiring with three board members to force through his removal on 9 September with minimal notice, and upon his reinstatement he fired both executives, triggering the golden-parachute payouts now in dispute. The episode matters because it raises questions about corporate governance failures and whether executives used a leadership vacuum to secure personal financial protection at the company's expense.

The severance deals, effective 10 September, entitle each executive to 12 months' base salary as a lump sum, accelerated equity vesting, the right to exercise vested stock options, and an extra year of health cover, totalling around $8.15 million between them. The agreements were drafted favourably towards the executives, narrowly defining "cause" for dismissal and requiring lengthy notice-and-cure procedures before termination without severance can apply. Automattic's legal team, now led by new outside counsel Susman Godfrey after replacing Gibson Dunn, is assessing whether to pay out or contest the agreements' validity, while General Counsel Jordan Hinkes also appears to have departed the company.