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Automattic

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Not to be confused withAutomatic.

Automattic Inc.
Company typePrivate
Industry
  • Internet
  • Web Development
  • Software
Founded2005;19 years ago(2005),in the United States
FounderMatt Mullenweg
HeadquartersSan Francisco,California,US
Key people
Matt Mullenweg(CEO,president)
Products
Number of employees
1,934 (January 2024)[1]
ASN2635Edit this at Wikidata
Websiteautomattic

Automattic Inc.is an American globaldistributed companywhich was founded in August 2005 and is most notable forWordPress(afreemiumblogging service), as well as its contributions toWordPress(anopen sourceblogging software). The company's name is a play on founderMatt Mullenweg's first name and the word "automatic".[2]

History[edit]

On January 11, 2006, it was announced that Toni Schneider would be leaving Yahoo! to becomeCEOof Automattic. He was previously CEO ofOddpostbefore it was acquired byYahoo!,where he had continued as a senior executive.[3][4]

In April 2006, Automattic'sRegulation Dfiling showed it had raised approximately $1.1 million in funding,[5]which Mullenweg addressed in his blog. Investors werePolaris Ventures,True Ventures, and Radar Partners.[2]

On September 9, 2010, Automattic gave the WordPress trademark and control over bbPress and BuddyPress to the WordPress Foundation.[6]

Itsremote workingculturewas the topic of a participative journalism project byScott Berkun,resulting in the 2013 bookThe Year Without Pants: WordPress and the Future of Work.[7]

On November 21, 2016, Automattic, via a subsidiary company (Knock Knock, WHOIS There) managed the launch and later development of the.bloggTLD, thus becoming a domain registrar.[8]

The former office of Automattic at 140 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco n July 2017 (since closed)

In 2017, Automattic announced that it would close its San Francisco office, which had served as an optional co-working space for its employees alongside similar spaces near Portland, Maine and in Cape Town, South Africa.[9]

In August 2019, Automattic closed a deal withVerizon Mediato acquireTumblr.[10]Mullenweg stated that he saw Tumblr as an "on-ramp" for WordPress adoption.[11]

In September of the same year, Automattic announced a Series D funding round of $300 million fromSalesforce,increasing its valuation to US$3 billion.[12]

Ending in February 2021, Automattic brought in US$288 million from a primary funding round. Subsequently, the company participated in a stock buyback, with the company valued at US$7.5 billion.[13]

In February 2024, it was reported that the company would begin selling user data from Tumblr andWordPresstoMidjourneyandOpenAI.[14]

Products[edit]

Some notable Automattic brands and products include:

  • WordPress– blog host, created in 2005
  • Akismet– anti-comment spamsystem capable of integration with many blogging platforms and forums, created in 2005
  • Gravatar– globally recognized avatars, acquired 2007[15]
  • BuddyPress– social networking plugin suite, acquired September 2008 and given to the WordPress Foundation in 2010[6]
  • IntenseDebate – acquired September 2008[16]
  • PollDaddy – acquired November 2008[17]
  • Simplenote– note-taking and sync service, acquired in 2013
  • Longreads – acquired in 2014[18]
  • WooCommerce– eCommerce plugin for WordPress with a marketplace for extensions, acquired in 2015[19]
  • Atavist– multimedia publishing platform and magazine, acquired in 2018[20]
  • Prospress – WooCommerce extension developer, acquired in May 2019[21][22]
  • JetpackCRM– acquired in August 2019, renamed from "Zero BS CRM"[23][24]
  • Tumblr– Microblogging platform, acquired in 2019[25]
  • Parse.ly– web analytics tools, acquired in February 2021[26]
  • Day One– personal journaling app, acquired in June 2021[27]
  • Pocket Casts – podcast client, acquired in July 2021[28]
  • Texts – messaging bridging app, acquired in October 2023[29]
  • Beeper– messaging bridging app based onMatrix,acquired in April 2024[30]

References[edit]

  1. ^"About Us".Automattic.July 23, 2005.Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2024.RetrievedFebruary 1,2024.
  2. ^abMorrison, Chris (October 19, 2021)."How doing everything wrong turned Automattic into a multibillion dollar media powerhouse".TechCrunch.RetrievedMarch 31,2024.
  3. ^Malik, Om (January 11, 2006)."Yahoo Exec Exits For Automattic CEO Gig".gigaom.Archived fromthe originalon September 20, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  4. ^Moving On From Yahoo -> AutomatticArchivedNovember 14, 2007, at theWayback Machine
  5. ^"EDGAR Search Results".sec.gov.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  6. ^ab"A New Home for the WordPress Trademark".September 9, 2010.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  7. ^Scott Berkun (September 10, 2013).The Year Without Pants: WordPress and the Future of Work.Wiley.ISBN978-1-118-66063-8.
  8. ^"About Knock Knock, WHOIS There".April 13, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  9. ^Staley, Oliver (June 12, 2017)."Wordpress's owner is closing its San Francisco office because its employees never show up".Quartz.RetrievedOctober 20,2019.
  10. ^Radulovic, Petrana (August 12, 2019)."Tumblr sold off yet again, adult content bans to be relaxed, but are being discussed".Polygon.RetrievedAugust 12,2019.
  11. ^Milano, Matt (August 23, 2023)."Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic, Sees Tumblr As a Gateway Product".WebProNews.RetrievedFebruary 29,2024.
  12. ^"Automattic raises $300 million at $3 billion valuation from Salesforce Ventures".TechCrunch.September 19, 2019.RetrievedApril 23,2020.
  13. ^Matt Mullenweg (August 16, 2021)."Funding, Buyback, and Hiring".
  14. ^Cole, Samantha (February 27, 2024)."Tumblr and WordPress to Sell Users' Data to Train AI Tools".404 Media.RetrievedFebruary 28,2024.
  15. ^"Automattic Acquires Gravatar".TechCrunch.October 18, 2007.RetrievedSeptember 7,2023.
  16. ^"Automattic Acquires IntenseDebate".September 23, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  17. ^"Automattic Acquires PollDaddy!".October 15, 2008.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  18. ^"Longreads Is Joining the Automattic Family".April 9, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  19. ^"WooThemes Joins Automattic".May 19, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 24,2018.
  20. ^"Automattic, Parent Company of WordPress, Acquires Atavist Publishing Platform and Award-Winning Magazine".PR Newswire.June 21, 2018.RetrievedJune 22,2018.
  21. ^Shepherd, Brent (May 22, 2019)."A Final Prospress Post…".Prospress Blog.Archivedfrom the original on May 24, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 22,2021.
  22. ^Dillet, Romain (May 23, 2019)."Automattic acquires subscription payment company Prospress".TechCrunch.RetrievedSeptember 22,2021.
  23. ^"Zero BS CRM acquired"(Press release). August 16, 2019.
  24. ^"Introducing Jetpack CRM: Grow Your Business Through Better Contact Management".Jetpack.Automattic. July 20, 2020.Archivedfrom the original on July 21, 2020.RetrievedAugust 17,2021.
  25. ^"Automattic Acquires Tumblr, Plans to Rebuild the Backend Powered by WordPress".August 13, 2019.
  26. ^"Parse.ly & Automattic".Matt Mullenweg.February 8, 2021.RetrievedFebruary 9,2021.
  27. ^"WordPress owner Automattic acquires journaling app Day One".TechCrunch.RetrievedJune 14,2021.
  28. ^"Popular Podcast App Pocket Casts Joins Automattic – WordPress News".July 16, 2021.
  29. ^Pierce, David (October 24, 2023)."Automattic is acquiring Texts and betting big on the future of messaging".The Verge.RetrievedOctober 24,2023.
  30. ^Pierce, David (April 9, 2024)."Beeper was just acquired by Automattic, which has big plans for the future of messaging".The Verge.RetrievedApril 9,2024.

External links[edit]

Media related toAutomatticat Wikimedia Commons

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