10 月 4 日消息，WordPress 联合创始人兼 Automattic 公司 CEO 马特・穆伦维格（Matt Mullenweg）近日向与自己就针对 WP Engine 的斗争意见相左的员工提供了离职补偿金，金额为 3 万美元或 6 个月工资（取较高者）。穆伦维格周四晚上更新信息称，共有 159 名员工接受了该提议，占公司总人数的 8.4%。
Automattic 负责运营 WordPress.com 及其商业服务，近期与第三方主机托管服务商 WP Engine 陷入公开争执。穆伦维格将 WP Engine 称为 WordPress 社区的“毒瘤”，并禁止其访问 WordPress.org。他声称 WP Engine 侵犯了 WordPress 商标，并且批评其未回馈 WordPress 开源项目。作为回应，由私募股权公司 Silver Lake 持股的 WP Engine 于周三对穆伦维格和 Automattic 提起诉讼，指控其敲诈勒索。Automattic 则称该诉讼“毫无根据”。
“Silver Lake 和 WP Engine 对我以及 Automattic 的攻击毫无根据，但却奏效了，”穆伦维格写道，“很明显，Automattic 公司的不少同事不同意我的做法和举措。”他让员工在 10 月 3 日之前决定是否要离开公司，离职员工将无法重新受雇。
根据穆伦维格的说法，离职主要影响了公司的 WordPress 生态系统部门，接受离职补偿金的员工中有 79.2% 来自该部门。“这周就像过山车一样，”穆伦维格写道，“不过现在我感觉轻松了很多。我感谢所有接受离职补偿金的同事，对于那些拒绝 1.26 亿美元的补偿金而选择留下的员工，我更是感到振奋。”
此外，WordPress 执行董事约瑟法・哈登・乔姆福西（Josepha Haden Chomphosy）确认已经离开公司。
On October 4th, it was reported that Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, recently offered severance packages of $30,000 or 6 months’ salary (whichever is higher) to employees who disagreed with him regarding the conflict with WP Engine. Mullenweg updated on Thursday night that a total of 159 employees, accounting for 8.4% of the company’s total workforce, accepted the offer. Automattic, which operates WordPress.com and its commercial services, has recently been involved in a public dispute with WP Engine, a third-party hosting service provider. Mullenweg described WP Engine as a “cancer” within the WordPress community and banned it from accessing WordPress.org. He alleged that WP Engine violated WordPress trademarks and criticized it for not contributing back to the WordPress open-source project. In response, WP Engine, owned by private equity firm Silver Lake, filed a lawsuit against Mullenweg and Automattic on Wednesday, accusing them of extortion. Automattic described the lawsuit as “baseless.”
“The attacks by Silver Lake and WP Engine against me and Automattic are baseless, but they have worked,” Mullenweg wrote. “It is evident that many colleagues at Automattic disagree with my actions and initiatives.” He gave employees until October 3rd to decide whether they wanted to leave the company, noting that departing employees would not be eligible for rehire.
According to Mullenweg, the departures primarily affected the company’s WordPress ecosystem department, with 79.2% of the employees accepting the severance packages coming from that department. “This week has been like a roller coaster,” Mullenweg wrote. “But now I feel a lot lighter. I am grateful to all colleagues who accepted the severance packages, and I am even more excited about the employees who chose to stay despite turning down $126 million in compensation.”
Additionally, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the executive director of WordPress, confirmed her departure from the company.
