Inside the 33-hour failed boardroom coup to overthrow WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg

On Sept.

9, the six-member board of Automattic—the company that owns WordPress, Tumblr, and other web-based apps—voted to put its CEO, Matt Mullenweg, on leave.

The move seemingly came out of the blue: Mullenweg had just returned from his annual trip to Burning Man , and the board was made up largely of directors who had mentored Mullenweg for years.

Mullenweg broke the news himself, in a Slack message to employees: “And the biggest news: I won’t be able to make the [meeting] tomorrow,” he wrote.

“@Mark Davies has conspired with @Ann Dunwoody, @Toni, and @Sue Decker behind my back and they voted to put me on a paid leave of absence.

I voted against that.” And then, 33 hours later, Mullenweg was back in control, and the three directors who tried to sideline him were gone, along with the company’s CFO and its chief legal officer.

“(Don’t call it a comeback…) Howdy everybody!” he wrote to staff upon his arrival, alongside a link to LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out.” A remarkable level of secrecy surrounded the drama.

None of the board members have publicly explained why they suddenly wanted him out of the company.

Mullenweg has declined to describe why he was all but fired, or how he quickly got back control of the company.

Even some of Automattic’s investors were left guessing; a person familiar with BlackRock’s investment in the company said they learned of the board’s move from news reports and still don’t understand how Mullenweg was able to undo it.

“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.” But interviews by Fortune with former Automattic employees, along with court filings, show a company long-divided against itself in an as-yet unresolved civil war over Mullenweg’s fight with WP Engine, a company that sells WordPress hosting.

At most companies, such a piece of litigation would be an issue best left to the general counsel’s office.

But at Automattic, Mullenweg’s pursuit of WP Engine—and his colleagues’ disagreement with that strategy—has led to the departure of 159 staffers, so far.