Automattic Loses Interim CFO After Less Than a Month

By Grace Kim

Automattic's interim chief financial officer, Jeremy Klaperman, has left the job after less than a month, TechCrunch has learned. His short tenure caps a brutal stretch for the WordPress.com parent company, which watched its entire board quit or get fired in September.

The company confirmed the move in a statement shared by Megan Fox, Automattic's director of communications: "Automattic will always be grateful for Jeremy Klperman's leadership. We wish him the best of luck on his next endeavor."

Klperman's exit is the third senior departure in roughly as many weeks, and it traces directly back to the 33-hour governance crisis that reshaped the company's top ranks.

How did we get here?

The sequence started in September, when Automattic's board members voted to put CEO Matt Mullenweg on leave. The board installed Mark Davies as CFO and effectively sidelined the founder.

It didn't hold. Within 33 hours of the vote, Mullenweg retook the CEO role and the board was wiped clean. Davies left, along with chief legal officer Andy Missan. Both executives had signed reciprocal severance deals during Mullenweg's brief absence, TechCrunch previously reported.

Klperman, who had been CFO of Automattic's VIP Enterprise business unit, was elevated to interim finance chief in the aftermath. Mullenweg announced the appointment on the company's Slack and used the moment to reassure staff, saying he had "100% confidence" in the company's cash and financial position.

A new board landed in late September. It includes best-selling science-fiction author Hugh Howey, two co-founders of the now-defunct social app IRL — Henry Khachatryan and Krutal Desai — plus author Amy Chan.

Why did Klperman leave?

Automattic's spokesperson did not comment on the reason. But sources told TechCrunch the decision came after Klperman was demoted back to his original role at VIP.

There's a wrinkle worth flagging: as interim CFO, he could have been replaced by a permanent hire. Nothing on that front has been announced. So the finance chief seat is now effectively empty, with no named successor — interim or permanent — in public view.

That leaves a company that operates WordPress.com, one of the web's largest publishing platforms, without a confirmed CFO while its freshly installed board is still weeks old.

What happens next?

Watch two things. First, whether Automattic names a permanent CFO — and how fast. Second, whether the new board, stacked with first-time directors from outside the company, signals any change in how the founder-led firm handles governance.

Until a permanent hire appears, every financial statement from Automattic will carry the same footnote: the person who signed off on the numbers is gone, and nobody has replaced him.