WP Engine explained

Type:Private
Industry:Web hosting
Founded:2010
Founder:Jason Cohen
Hq Location:Austin, Texas
Key People:Heather Brunner (CEO), Jason Cohen (CIO)
Owner:Silver Lake[1]

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

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

WP Engine was founded by Jason Cohen and Ben Metcalfe in 2010. Prior to founding WP Engine, Cohen was the founder of the software company SmartBear Software. 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. 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.

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. 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, 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. 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

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. 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) for the "WordPress" name. Automattic responded by sending its own cease and desist the next day, citing the trademark issue. On October 2, 2024, WP Engine sued Automattic and Mullenweg for extortion and abuse of power, which the defendants denied.

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 to ask against usage of WP "in a way that confuses people", listing WP Engine as an example. 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, which the company did. 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".[30]

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.[31] The next week concluded another offer of nine months' salary to attempt to placate those who could not quit for financial reasons,[32] though with only four hours to respond and the added term of being excluded from the WordPress.org community.

Acquisitions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Alex . Barinka . David . Carey . January 4, 2018 . Silver Lake Takes $250 Million Stake in Startup WP Engine . Bloomberg.
  2. Web site: Cobler . Nicole . Austin's WP Engine buys Nebraska tech firm . 2024-03-10 . Austin American-Statesman . en-US.
  3. Web site: updated . Abigail Opiah last . 2021-07-14 . Why the founder of WP Engine is knee-deep in headless products . 2024-03-10 . TechRadar . en.
  4. Web site: WP Engine reorganizes business, hires first head of diversity . 2024-03-10 . www.bizjournals.com.
  5. Web site: Neesen . Laura . 2019-06-24 . WP Engine to acquire Omaha-based Flywheel . 2024-03-10 . Silicon Prairie News . en-US.
  6. Web site: Butcher . Mike . 2017-10-20 . Serial entrepreneur Ben Metcalfe joins newly independent VC Ridge Ventures . 2024-03-10 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  7. News: Mark Randall . 5 February 2018 . U-turn needed on skilled visas . Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. Web site: Lunden . Ingrid . 2018-01-04 . WP Engine, a managed WordPress platform, raises $250M from Silver Lake . 2024-03-10 . TechCrunch . en-US.
  9. Web site: Eric Blattberg . 19 June 2014 . WP Engine's new product will keep your website chugging along during huge traffic spikes . Venture Beat.
  10. Web site: Yeung . Ken . 2013-04-03 . WP Engine Hires Bazaarvoice's Heather Brunner As New COO . 2024-03-10 . TNW Insider . en.
  11. Web site: Hosting Journalist . Editorial Team . 2013-10-08 . Managed WordPress Hosting Provider WP Engine Appoints Heather Brunner as CEO . 2024-03-10 . Hosting Journalist.com . en-US.
  12. Web site: 2017-08-10 . Austin tech firm on fast growth track snags global engineering boss from SolarWinds . 2024-03-21 . bizjournals.com.
  13. Web site: Kitson . Niall . 2023-12-11 . WP Engine grows Irish presence with 20 new jobs . 2024-03-10 . TechCentral.ie . en-GB.
  14. Web site: Rabbitts . Nick . Further jobs boost for Limerick as WP Engine reveals vacancies . 2024-03-10 . www.limerickleader.ie . 11 December 2023 . en.
  15. Web site: O'Dea . Blathnaid . 2022-07-13 . WordPress tech company WP Engine is recruiting 20 staff in Limerick . 2024-03-10 . Silicon Republic . en.
  16. Web site: WP Engine joins parade of companies expanding on north side . 2024-03-10 . www.bizjournals.com.
  17. Web site: 2020-03-26 . WP Engine to occupy prime office spot in Kirkland's Limerick city portfolio . 2024-03-21 . Irish Independent . en.
  18. News: Alex Barinka . Silver Lake Takes $250 Million Stake in Startup WP Engine . Bloomberg . 4 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181113035949/https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-04/silver-lake-takes-250-million-stake-in-austin-startup-wp-engine . 13 November 2018.
  19. Web site: WP Engine Gets $250 Million Funding from Silver Lake . 2024-08-25 . www.itprotoday.com . en.
  20. Web site: Montti . Roger . 2022-04-26 . WP Engine Ending Support for .htaccess . 2024-03-10 . Search Engine Journal . en.
  21. Web site: Dee . Katie . 2022-04-12 . WP Engine announces innovations for its headless WordPress solution Atlas . 2024-03-10 . SD Times . en-US.
  22. Web site: Lawson . Loraine . 2024-03-22 . WP Engine Introduces AI-Powered Search for WordPress Sites . 2024-08-25 . The New Stack . en-US.
  23. Web site: Abigail Opiah . 2022-11-17 . WP Engine extends its managed WordPress hosting solution on Microsoft Azure . 2024-03-21 . TechRadar . en.
  24. Web site: julia . 2022-09-19 . Granite Digital forms €3.1m partnership WP Engine . 2024-03-21 . TechCentral.ie . en-GB.
  25. Web site: WP Engine DE: the future is (headless) open source  . 2024-03-10 . www.computerweekly.com.
  26. Web site: Abigail Opiah . 2023-01-26 . Liquid Web and WP Engine branded the most reliable hosts as WordPress turns 20 . 2024-03-10 . TechRadar . en.
  27. Web site: 20 Biggest Web Hosting Companies in 2024 . 2024-10-06 . en-US.
  28. Web site: Best Web Hosting Services . 2024-10-06 . PCMAG . en.
  29. Web site: WP Engine . 2024-05-10 . 6sense.com.
  30. Web site: Davis . Wes . 2024-10-12 . WordPress.org's latest move involves taking control of a WP Engine plugin . 2024-10-13 . The Verge . en.
  31. Web site: Council . Stephen . October 7, 2024 . After weeks of drama, SF tech CEO gives workers $30,000 to quit .
  32. Web site: Cole . Samantha . Employees Describe an Environment of Paranoia and Fear Inside Automattic Over WordPress Chaos . 404 Media . 2024-10-17 . 2024-10-18.
  33. News: Jessica Stillman . 6 December 2018 . 5 Podcasts That Give You the Real Dirt on What It's Like to Be an Entrepreneur . INC.com.
  34. Web site: M&A wrap: WP Engine, EZCorp, Mood Media open wallets . 2024-03-10 . www.bizjournals.com.
  35. Web site: Polina Marinova . 25 June 2019 . Longtime Analyst Mark Mahaney: 'The Bar Is Higher In the Public Markets:' Term Sheet . https://web.archive.org/web/20190806172527/https://fortune.com/2019/06/25/term-sheet-tuesday-june-25/ . 6 August 2019 . Fortune.
  36. Web site: 2020-02-14 . WordPress local development tool 'Local' now works with WP Engine . coywolf.news.
  37. Web site: 2020-05-01 . Block Lab Team Joins WP Engine, Looks to the Future of Block Building . 2024-10-06 . WP Tavern . en-US.
  38. Web site: 2021-12-23 . WP Engine Acquires Brian Gardner's Frost, Opens It to the Public . 2024-03-21 . WP Tavern . en-US.
  39. Web site: Montti . Roger . 2022-06-03 . WP Engine Acquires Company Behind ACF, WP Migrate & Better Search and Replace . 2024-03-10 . Search Engine Journal . en.
  40. Web site: 2022-06-02 . WP Engine Acquires 5 Plugins From Delicious Brains . 2024-08-25 . WP Tavern . en-US.
  41. Web site: Atanasova . Teodora . 2024-07-18 . Bulgarian Company NitroPack Acquired by US WP Engine . 2024-08-25 . TheRecursive.com . en-GB.
  42. Web site: Montti . Roger . 2024-07-19 . WP Engine WordPress Hosting Acquires NitroPack . 2024-08-25 . Search Engine Journal . en.

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