More details emerge from the Matt Mullenweg coup/counter-coup

The gossip around Matt Mullenweg’s 33-hour ouster is getting better. Fortune’s Eva Roytburg has found an unnamed person familiar with BlackRock’s Automattic investment who learned of the board revolt from news reports. And still can’t fathom the comeback.

“I don’t understand how he basically reinstated himself and reversed the decision of the vote,” the person said. “That makes no sense to us.”

The source also questioned Mullenweg’s claimed 84% voting control, doubting investors had simply handed him their votes. Mullenweg’s own account, published in 2021, was that funding since 2011 included voting proxies assigning him those rights.

Roytburg’s former-employee interviews supply another curious detail. Senior leaders were expected to defend Mullenweg’s fight with WP Engine without being told his strategy, according to someone who worked closely with him. The source saw little endgame beyond hurting the rival—and wanted anonymity for fear of retaliation.

There are loyalists, too. One former senior employee who took the exit payout praised Mullenweg’s openness to disagreement, and former WooCommerce engineering lead Naman Malhotra defended Mullenweg’s demands for open-source contributions.