The Trial Balance is CFO.com’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events to help you prepare.
Part 1: Automattic’s former CFO, who allegedly “conspired” with board members to remove the company’s CEO, is now out himself.
The CEO and founder of Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce and other digital brands, has replaced the finance chief who reportedly attempted to replace him.
Citing an internal Slack message from Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg, Tech industry news site TechCrunch on Friday reported that Jeremy Klaperman has become interim CFO of the company.
The appointment comes in the wake of an attempt by Automattic’s board to remove Mullenweg as CEO earlier this month. At the time, Mullenweg said Automattic’s former CFO Mark Davies “conspired” with other board members on a vote to put Mullenweg on a paid leave of absence, TechCrunch reported. The board had voted to install Davies as interim CEO in his place.
Mullenweg said in a Slack message that he had received the resolution to name Davies interim chief executive 50 minutes before the start of a meeting where the vote occurred, and that he had repeatedly requested more time for it to be reviewed by independent legal counsel. The request was denied, he said.
In a post on X around the time, Mullenweg wrote, “Founder advice: If you don't have a coup attempt every few years, you're not hiring strong enough leaders.”
Then, in a twist resembling the attempted board ouster of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in late 2023, Mullenweg returned to his position a few days later, with the board members who voted for his ouster ultimately leaving, according to TechCrunch. Davies, too, has reportedly left the company.
Before he left, Davies and Automattic’s former chief legal officer allegedly signed off on one another’s severance packages that would provide them with 12 months of base salary, TechCrunch reported. The status of the two former executives’ pay isn’t clear. Automattic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment as of Monday morning.
Meanwhile, Automattic’s new interim CFO Klaperman comes to the position after serving in at least two finance chief roles in his past, according to his LinkedIn profile. Before his latest appointment, he was CFO of Automattic’s WordPress VIP Enterprise division. He is also a member of The F Suite, an invitation-only group for finance chiefs.
The circumstances around former finance chief Davies’ brief ascent to CEO aren’t fully clear. But it is true that many CFOs are more and more being seen as second-in-command. For example, last year saw a record number of CFO-to-CEO promotions among Fortune 500 and S&P 500 firms.
Part 2 — This week
Here’s a list of important U.S. market events slated for the week ahead.
Monday, Sept. 21 — None scheduled
Tuesday, Sept. 22
Wednesday, Sept. 23
- S&P flash U.S. services PMI, Sept.
- S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI, Sept.
Thursday, Sept. 24
- Initial jobless claims, week ending Sept. 19
- Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey
Friday, Sept. 25
- Durable goods orders, Aug.
- University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, Sept. final
Part 3 — Quote of the week
“Early in my career, I thought a balance sheet was a balance sheet. As the treasurer of an organization, I believed I could be industry agnostic and raise capital for any company. I could not have been further from the truth.”
Andy Kellogg
CFO, Culligan
Andy Kellogg, chief financial officer of water treatment company Culligan, recently shared with CFO.com what he learned in earlier roles and how changing consumer habits are shaping the company’s growth and investment priorities.
