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WP Engine

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WP Engine
Company typePrivate
IndustryWeb hosting
Founded2010
FounderJason Cohen
HeadquartersAustin, Texas
Key people
Heather Brunner (CEO), Jason Cohen (CIO)
OwnerSilver Lake[1]
Websitewpengine.com Edit this at Wikidata

WP Engine is an American hosting company that provides hosting services for websites built on the open-source content management system WordPress.[2] It was founded by Jason Cohen in 2010 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.[3][4][5][6]

History

[edit]

WP Engine's main function is allowing businesses and organizations to build, host, and manage websites powered by WordPress.[4][7][8][9]

WP Engine was founded by Jason Cohen and Ben Metcalfe in 2010.[3][5][6] Prior to founding WP Engine, Cohen was the founder of the software company SmartBear Software.[3] In May 2013, WP Engine hired former Bazaarvoice COO Heather Brunner as its COO.[10][11] Brunner was eventually appointed the company's CEO in October 2013, with Cohen assuming the position of CTO.[11] WP Engine hired Lee McClendon, formerly of SolarWinds, as its first Senior Vice President of Global Engineering in 2017.[12]

WP Engine expanded into Europe in 2016, establishing offices in Limerick, Ireland.[13][14][15] In 2019, the company expanded its offices into The Domain, a mixed-use development in Austin, Texas.[16] In addition, WP Engine also expanded its offices into the Limerick city centre in 2023.[17]

In 2018, WP Engine sold majority of its stakes to Silver Lake for investing $250 million.[18] At the time they had 75,000 customers.[19]

In 2021, the company reorganized its business into three service lines: enterprise-size business, small to medium-size business and international business.[4]

In 2022, WP Engine announced that it was ending support for the website managing tool .htaccess.[20] WP Engine also announced the launch of Atlas, its headless WordPress solution, in the same year.[21] The Atlas platform includes Atlas Blueprints, which provides developers with free website templates designed by professionals, and Atlas Sandbox, which allows users to create prototype headless WordPress projects.[21] In March 2024, WP Engine Introduced AI-Powered Search for WordPress Sites.[22]

WP Engine launched its platform on Microsoft Azure in 2022.[23]

WP Engine formed a partnership with digital agency Granite Digital to expand its presence in Ireland in 2023.[24]

Annually, WP Engine holds WP Engine DE{CODE}, a developer conference centered around sharing technical knowledge with the WordPress community.[25]

In November 2017, it became the first WordPress solution to be certified in Amazon Web Services' Competency Program.[19] In a 2023 study conducted by StatusGator, WP Engine was named one of the most reliable WordPress hosting providers based on downtime data.[26] WP Engine has been ranked as one of the top 10 most popular hosting companies by several publications.[27][28][29]

WordPress dispute and lawsuit

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During the week preceding September 22, 2024, Matt Mullenweg—founder of WordPress.com—began speaking negatively about rival WP Engine. Mullenweg gave a speech at WordCamp US 2024 that argued that WP Engine had made meager contributions to WordPress compared to Automattic, criticized WP Engine's significant ties to private equity, and called for a boycott, sparking internet controversy.[30] In response, WP Engine issued a cease and desist against what it characterized as defamation and extortion, attributing his attacks to WP Engine's refusal to pay Automattic "a significant percentage of its gross revenues – tens of millions of dollars in fact – on an ongoing basis" for what it claimed were necessary trademark licensing fees (later clarified as 8% of all revenue, payable in gross or in salaries for its own employees working under WordPress.org's direction, combined with a clause that would've prohibited forking[31]) for the "WordPress" name.[32] Automattic responded by sending its own cease and desist the next day, citing the trademark issue.[33] On October 2, 2024, WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg for extortion and abuse of power, which the defendants denied.[31]

As a result of the dispute, WordPress.org blocked WP Engine and affiliates from accessing its servers—which include security updates, the plugin and theme repository, and more—on September 25, 2024, a day after its trademark policy was updated[34] to ask against usage of WP "in a way that confuses people", listing WP Engine as an example.[35] Following backlash, access to WordPress.org was temporarily restored until October 1 to allow WP Engine to build its own mirror sites two days later,[36][37] which the company did.[35] On the 12th, WordPress.org replaced the listing of WP Engine's Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin on the WordPress.org plugin directory with a fork called "Secure Custom Fields" citing a guideline that empowers the foundation to "make changes to a plugin, without developer consent, in the interest of public safety".[38]

On October 7, 2024, to align the company's stance, Mullenweg announced that 159 employees—8.4% of Automattic—had quit in exchange for a severance package of $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever is higher, with the condition that the resigned would not be able to return.[39] The next week concluded another offer of nine months' salary to attempt to placate those who could not quit for financial reasons,[40] though with only four hours to respond and the added term of being excluded from the WordPress.org community.[35]

Acquisitions

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  • Studio Press (Theme Developer), June 2018[2][41]
  • Flywheel (Hosting Company), June 2019[2][42][43][44]
  • Block Lab (Plugin), 2020[45]
  • Frost (WordPress Theme), 2021[46]
  • Delicious Brains (Plugin Developer), June 2021[47][48]
  • NitroPack (IT Company), July 2024[49][50]

References

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  1. ^ Barinka, Alex; Carey, David (January 4, 2018). "Silver Lake Takes $250 Million Stake in Startup WP Engine". Bloomberg.
  2. ^ a b c Cobler, Nicole. "Austin's WP Engine buys Nebraska tech firm". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  3. ^ a b c updated, Abigail Opiah last (2021-07-14). "Why the founder of WP Engine is knee-deep in headless products". TechRadar. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  4. ^ a b c "WP Engine reorganizes business, hires first head of diversity". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  5. ^ a b Neesen, Laura (2019-06-24). "WP Engine to acquire Omaha-based Flywheel". Silicon Prairie News. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  6. ^ a b Butcher, Mike (2017-10-20). "Serial entrepreneur Ben Metcalfe joins newly independent VC Ridge Ventures". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  7. ^ Mark Randall (5 February 2018). "U-turn needed on skilled visas". Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (2018-01-04). "WP Engine, a managed WordPress platform, raises $250M from Silver Lake". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  9. ^ Eric Blattberg (19 June 2014). "WP Engine's new product will keep your website chugging along during huge traffic spikes". Venture Beat.
  10. ^ Yeung, Ken (2013-04-03). "WP Engine Hires Bazaarvoice's Heather Brunner As New COO". TNW | Insider. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  11. ^ a b Hosting Journalist, Editorial Team (2013-10-08). "Managed WordPress Hosting Provider WP Engine Appoints Heather Brunner as CEO". Hosting Journalist.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  12. ^ "Austin tech firm on fast growth track snags global engineering boss from SolarWinds". bizjournals.com. 2017-08-10. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  13. ^ Kitson, Niall (2023-12-11). "WP Engine grows Irish presence with 20 new jobs". TechCentral.ie. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  14. ^ Rabbitts, Nick (11 December 2023). "Further jobs boost for Limerick as WP Engine reveals vacancies". www.limerickleader.ie. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  15. ^ O'Dea, Blathnaid (2022-07-13). "WordPress tech company WP Engine is recruiting 20 staff in Limerick". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  16. ^ "WP Engine joins parade of companies expanding on north side". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  17. ^ "WP Engine to occupy prime office spot in Kirkland's Limerick city portfolio". Irish Independent. 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  18. ^ Alex Barinka (4 January 2018). "Silver Lake Takes $250 Million Stake in Startup WP Engine". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018.
  19. ^ a b "WP Engine Gets $250 Million Funding from Silver Lake". www.itprotoday.com. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  20. ^ Montti, Roger (2022-04-26). "WP Engine Ending Support for .htaccess". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  21. ^ a b Dee, Katie (2022-04-12). "WP Engine announces innovations for its headless WordPress solution Atlas". SD Times. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  22. ^ Lawson, Loraine (2024-03-22). "WP Engine Introduces AI-Powered Search for WordPress Sites". The New Stack. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  23. ^ Abigail Opiah (2022-11-17). "WP Engine extends its managed WordPress hosting solution on Microsoft Azure". TechRadar. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  24. ^ julia (2022-09-19). "Granite Digital forms €3.1m partnership WP Engine". TechCentral.ie. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  25. ^ "WP Engine DE{CODE}: the future is (headless) open source". www.computerweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  26. ^ Abigail Opiah (2023-01-26). "Liquid Web and WP Engine branded the most reliable hosts as WordPress turns 20". TechRadar. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  27. ^ "20 Biggest Web Hosting Companies in 2024". Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  28. ^ "Best Web Hosting Services". PCMAG. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  29. ^ "WP Engine". 6sense.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  30. ^ Sawers, Paul (2024-09-22), "Matt Mullenweg calls WP Engine a 'cancer to WordPress' and urges community to switch providers", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-10-01, retrieved 2024-09-24
  31. ^ a b Mehta, Ivan (2024-10-03), "WP Engine sues WordPress co-creator Mullenweg and Automattic, alleging abuse of power", TechCrunch, retrieved 2024-10-04
  32. ^ Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-24), "WP Engine sends cease-and-desist letter to Automattic over Mullenweg's comments", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-09-24, retrieved 2024-09-24
  33. ^ Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-25), "Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-09-27, retrieved 2024-09-27
  34. ^ Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-26), "WordPress.org bans WP Engine, blocks it from accessing its resources", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-09-26, retrieved 2024-09-26
  35. ^ a b c Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-26), "The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-10-01, retrieved 2024-09-26
  36. ^ Mehta, Ivan (2024-09-28), "WordPress.org temporarily lifts its ban on WP Engine", TechCrunch, archived from the original on 2024-09-28, retrieved 2024-09-28
  37. ^ Mullenweg, Matt (2024-09-27), "WP Engine Reprieve", WordPress.org, archived from the original on 2024-09-27, retrieved 2024-09-28
  38. ^ Davis, Wes (2024-10-12). "WordPress.org's latest move involves taking control of a WP Engine plugin". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  39. ^ Council, Stephen (October 7, 2024). "After weeks of drama, SF tech CEO gives workers $30,000 to quit".
  40. ^ Cole, Samantha (2024-10-17). "Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos". 404 Media. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  41. ^ Jessica Stillman (6 December 2018). "5 Podcasts That Give You the Real Dirt on What It's Like to Be an Entrepreneur". INC.com.
  42. ^ "M&A wrap: WP Engine, EZCorp, Mood Media open wallets". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  43. ^ Polina Marinova (25 June 2019). "Longtime Analyst Mark Mahaney: 'The Bar Is Higher In the Public Markets:' Term Sheet". Fortune. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019.
  44. ^ "WordPress local development tool 'Local' now works with WP Engine". coywolf.news. 2020-02-14.
  45. ^ "Block Lab Team Joins WP Engine, Looks to the Future of Block Building". WP Tavern. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  46. ^ "WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner's Frost, Opens It to the Public". WP Tavern. 2021-12-23. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  47. ^ Montti, Roger (2022-06-03). "WP Engine Acquires Company Behind ACF, WP Migrate & Better Search and Replace". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  48. ^ "WP Engine Acquires 5 Plugins From Delicious Brains". WP Tavern. 2022-06-02. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  49. ^ Atanasova, Teodora (2024-07-18). "Bulgarian Company NitroPack Acquired by US WP Engine". TheRecursive.com. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  50. ^ Montti, Roger (2024-07-19). "WP Engine WordPress Hosting Acquires NitroPack". Search Engine Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
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