All posts tagged: ouster

Automattic confirms Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted ouster by board

Automattic confirms Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted ouster by board

Published by skeptic

After a tumultuous week, which saw WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg ousted from his position as CEO of Automattic, WordPress.com’s parent company, by way of a board vote, the company has now issued a statement confirming that Mullenweg has returned to his position. “Matt Mullenweg is the chairman and CEO of Automattic, with full support of the board and if you search online you can see many top executives and Automatticians supporting him as well,” a company spokesperson shared with TechCrunch via email just after 5 PM ET on Saturday evening. (The mention of online support appears to refer to supportive posts on X that Mullenweg has been reposting from his X account.) Automattic’s board had voted earlier this week to put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence for unknown reasons. The move seemingly came as a surprise to Mullenweg, who posted on Automattic’s Slack, accusing the board members of “conspiring” against him. Automattic confirmed Mullenweg’s removal to TechCrunch on Wednesday, saying that Mullenweg was “currently on leave” and that Automattic’s Chief Financial Officer, Mark …

Matt Mullenweg tells (trolls?) Automattic staff, saying he’s back in control after CEO ouster

Matt Mullenweg tells (trolls?) Automattic staff, saying he’s back in control after CEO ouster

Published by skeptic

Matt Mullenweg has posted a message to Automattic’s Slack, claiming he is back in control as CEO of the WordPress.com parent company, according to a screenshot of the message seen by TechCrunch, which was confirmed by multiple employee sources. The post arrives only days after Automattic’s board voted to oust Mullenweg as CEO for unknown reasons. Automattic has been asked to confirm if Mullenweg’s statement is true, but has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment. Mullenweg responded to our inquiry, saying a blog post is forthcoming. When it dropped, it was about him buying a houseboat. Friday afternoon, Mary Hubbard, the Executive Director of WordPress.org, wrote on X that she was “relieved and pleased to see Matt Mullenweg return as CEO of Automattic.” This story is still developing. Founder advice: If you don’t have a coup attempt every few years, you’re not hiring strong enough leaders. — Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) September 11, 2026 On Wednesday, the WordPress founder and a key advocate for the open source community told his team via Slack that …

Novak Djokovic reveals unspecified health issue following ouster at the Cincinnati Open

Novak Djokovic reveals unspecified health issue following ouster at the Cincinnati Open

Published by Sam Flores

Tennis star Novak Djokovic alluded to a health condition after an early exit from the Cincinnati Open on Saturday, in which he lost to 25-year-old Thiago Agustín Tirante in the second round. Djokovic, 39, was visibly struggling throughout the match and appeared to vomit at one point, requiring a medical timeout. The match lasted nearly three hours before Tirante ultimately took down the 24-time Grand Slam champion. It was “not an enjoyable” match, Djokovic told reporters after the loss. “It’s just a condition that I have, healthwise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years,” Djokovic said. “A lot of issues, especially when it is humid and it is hot.” The Serbian star did not name or elaborate on the health issue. He had anticipated the humidity heading into the match but noted that other factors, including nerves, “make it worse.” Djokovic during the match Saturday.Emilee Chinn / Getty Images Djokovic congratulated Tirante after the match. Tirante, for his part, called the win potentially the best of his career and praised Djokovic …

Firebrand PM’s Ouster Complicates Senegal IMF Talks, Heightens Bondholder Risk

Firebrand PM’s Ouster Complicates Senegal IMF Talks, Heightens Bondholder Risk

Published by Sam Flores

JOHANNESBURG, May 26 (Reuters) – Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s dismissal of a government headed by ⁠a ⁠firebrand critic of the International Monetary Fund gives fresh ⁠impetus to protracted negotiations aimed at resolving West Africa’s most pressing debt crisis. But analysts and investors cautioned that, while Prime Minister ​Ousmane Sonko’s Friday ouster may remove one obstacle to an IMF deal, its unpredictable fallout presents new complications for the stalled talks and potential risks for investors. “The removal of PM Sonko creates additional ‌political uncertainty,” said Thalia Petousis, portfolio manager at ‌Allan Gray. “There is also a chance that a newly appointed PM might be in favour of a deep debt restructuring, increasing the probability of a negative outcome for Senegalese bondholders.” Late on ⁠Monday, Faye named Ahmadou ⁠Al Aminou Lo, a seasoned economist and former regional central bank official, to replace the populist Sonko. But Sonko, ​whose party still dominates the National Assembly, made a political comeback of sorts on Tuesday as lawmakers overwhelmingly elected him speaker of parliament. Senegal’s foreign currency-denominated government bonds plummeted …

Ilya Sutskever Stands by His Role in Sam Altman’s OpenAI Ouster: ‘I Didn’t Want It to Be Destroyed’

Ilya Sutskever Stands by His Role in Sam Altman’s OpenAI Ouster: ‘I Didn’t Want It to Be Destroyed’

Published by skeptic

Elon Musk’s trial against OpenAI and Microsoft entered its final stretch on Monday, with testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and current OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor. Sutskever drew the spotlight, revealing an ownership stake in OpenAI’s $850-billion for-profit arm that is currently worth about $7 billion. That makes him one of the largest known individual shareholders of OpenAI. Earlier in the trial, OpenAI president Greg Brockman acknowledged for the first time that he has around $30 billion worth of OpenAI shares. Brockman was one of the research lab’s original cofounders, and Sutskever joined shortly afterward, turning down a $6 million annual compensation offer from Google. Brockman said he and Sutskever were “joined at the hip,” until Sutskever helped lead Sam Altman’s brief removal as OpenAI CEO in 2023. Sutskever had helped collect evidence to show Altman’s alleged history of deception, and even assisted in drafting a memo to the board. Though they tried to repair the relationship, Sutskever has been estranged from Brockman and Altman ever since, a lawyer …

Ouster’s new color lidar is coming to replace cameras

Ouster’s new color lidar is coming to replace cameras

Published by skeptic

The tech industry has spent the last decade asking whether self-driving cars need lidar sensors, cameras, or all of the above. Lidar company Ouster says it has a new answer: put them both in the same sensor. On Monday, the San Francisco-based company announced a new lineup of lidar sensors it calls “Rev8,” all of which offer so-called “native color lidar.” These sensors are capable of capturing color imagery and three-dimensional depth information at the same time, doing the work of two sensors in one. Ouster CEO Angus Pacala said the development has been a decade in the making at his company, and he wasn’t shy about his ambitions for the new product lineup in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch, calling it the “holy grail of what a roboticist has always wanted.” “For all of human history, it’s been: you buy a lidar sensor, you buy a camera, and you try to make sense of the combination with some higher level reasoning, and waste an enormous amount of time doing this,” he told TechCrunch. “And …

Spain is ‘reliable’ NATO member, PM says after reported US ouster threat

Spain is ‘reliable’ NATO member, PM says after reported US ouster threat

Published by Sam Flores

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly railed against NATO allies for refusing to join the war that engulfed the Middle East, saying he viewed it as a betrayal.  Some of them – France, Spain and Italy – did not allow US military aircraft deployed for the war to overfly their territories or to use bases. Trump also tried, in vain, to get European NATO members to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for Gulf energy exports, which Iran has effectively closed with military threats and attacks. Washington’s expectation that NATO members’ facilities and territories should be available to the United States without question has added to strains within the alliance. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told reporters in Cyprus that “NATO must remain united. I believe it is a source of strength.” Sanchez said his government’s stance was “absolute cooperation with allies, but always within the bounds of international law”. Sanchez has repeatedly found himself in Trump’s crosshairs since the Republican president returned to office in January 2025. Last year, he …

Driscoll on Army Gen. George’s ouster: I ‘personally regret’ he’s no longer in active service

Driscoll on Army Gen. George’s ouster: I ‘personally regret’ he’s no longer in active service

Published by Sam Flores

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll on Thursday addressed the firing of the service’s former chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, saying he deeply respects the ousted officer but that civilian officials “get to pick the leaders that they want.” “I was in North Carolina when Gen. George was asked to put in his resignation paperwork, with my… Source link

Inside the Pentagon, fears of a disrupted war effort after Army chief’s ouster

Inside the Pentagon, fears of a disrupted war effort after Army chief’s ouster

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Merely two weeks had passed since the Iran war began when Gen. Randy George, the Army’s highest-ranking officer, began sounding an alarm. Touring a weapons depot in North Carolina, George warned lawmakers present that the conflict’s vast and ever-growing list of targets was straining U.S. capacity — “depleting our stockpiles faster than we can replace them,” as one congressman recalled. Since assuming Army leadership, George had made it his mission to strengthen the nation’s industrial base in anticipation of precisely this moment, when the United States would be engaged in a major war with a formidable adversary. On Thursday, in a brief phone call, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired George. No reason was given, a U.S. official familiar with the matter told The Times. The forced departure of George in the middle of a war created yet another blow to morale inside the Pentagon, where multiple officials expressed dismay over the state of the department’s leadership. Over the last year, Hegseth has fired five sitting members of the joint chiefs of staff, with only two …

Trump weighs more Cabinet changes after Bondi ouster – POLITICO

Trump weighs more Cabinet changes after Bondi ouster – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

No final decisions have been made on Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick — and Trump has contemplated firing people and then backed off before. Should Trump proceed with a larger set of Cabinet changes, it could represent a major attempted reset for an administration confronting an ominous political landscape. The potential high-level shuffling, a second, senior official said, is focused on Cabinet officials Trump feels have “underperformed or who have generated too much negative attention.” In a statement, Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, said Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick are “both doing a great job standing up for American workers, and they continue to have President Trump’s full support.” A third White House official reached out to POLITICO on behalf of Lutnick saying they hadn’t heard anyone suggest changes at the Commerce Department. “Everyone is thrilled with the job Howard has done — on trade deals, pharmaceuticals, Japan, tariffs, all of it….He’s also taken a hard line on Canada from day one, which POTUS appreciates.” But the second White House official said that Lutnick is on “thin ice.” …