The WordPress project is set to welcome a new executive director later this month. Matt Mullenweg, co-founder of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, has announced Mary Hubbard will assume the role on October 21.
Hubbard is no stranger to WordPress, having worked for Automattic from 2020 to 2023. She started as the General Manager of the WooCommerce Marketplace before taking on the role of Chief Product Officer for WordPress.com.
More recently, Hubbard has been the Head of TikTok Americas, Governance and Experience, a position she started in January and resigned from this week.
Announcing Hubbard’s new role on WordPress.org, Mullenweg praised her “deep knowledge of WordPress and expertise across business, product, marketplaces, program management, and governance.”
Hubbard replaces Josepha Haden Chomphosy, who left Automattic last week, along with 159 other employees. The departures followed a severance package of $30,000 or six months salary, whichever was higher, offered to those who disagreed with Mullenweg’s approach to the ongoing conflict with WP Engine.
The new executive director’s background contrasts significantly with her predecessor’s. Haden Chomphosy, who took on the role in 2019, began her career in marketing and business analysis before joining Automattic and progressing through the ranks, starting as a community manager and advancing into community development and product management roles before becoming executive director.
Hubbard, in contrast, has extensive experience in ecommerce and product development. She has previously held positions at eBay, Walmart, and Assurant, focusing on business strategy, delivery, and program management. Before working at Automattic, she served as Chief Product Officer at TruRating.
When asked on Hacker News if Hubbard’s role would mirror Haden Chomphosy’s or differ in scope, Mullenweg responded that Hubbard’s responsibilities would be “significantly broader” as she “brings a lot of talents to the WordPress ecosystem.”
A somewhat complicated org chart
In Hacker News and on X, users have understandably expressed confusion about the executive director role—who Hubbard reports to and why she isn’t leading the WordPress Foundation.
Here’s a breakdown:
Mullenweg is a co-creator of WordPress, the open-source software, and serves as a director of the non-profit WordPress Foundation, which oversees the WordPress trademarks and aims to educate the public about WordPress and related open-source software. He personally owns WordPress.org.
Mullenweg is also the CEO of Automattic, a for-profit company that owns several brands, including WordPress.com (a managed hosting service for WordPress), WooCommerce, Jetpack, Pressable, Tumblr, and others. Automattic employs a large team as part of its Ecosystem/WordPress division, whose members contribute to the WordPress project through the Five for the Future initiative. Hubbard will lead this team at Automattic and report directly to Mullenweg.
