Matt Mullenweg

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Automattic

FUNDING AREAS: Bay Area Community, Digital & Civil Rights, TBD

OVERVIEW: Matt Mullenweg does not appear to have a charitable vehicle. He’s given gifts in his local Bay Area community.

BACKGROUND: Matt Mullenweg studied political science at the University of Houston before dropping out to pursue a job at CNET Networks. While still at college, Matt and Mike Little created WordPress using b2 codebase. In 2005, he resigned from CNET Networks and went on to found Automattic, which would eventually be the force behind WordPress.com and Akismet, among many web services. Automattic recently acquired Tumblr from Verizon.

ISSUES:

BAY AREA COMMUNITY: Mullenweg gave $1.5 million to “Bay Lights,” a San Francisco Bay Bridge art project. He’s been a steady backer of the project.

DIGITAL & CIVIL RIGHTS: Mullenberg has support organizations like Archive.org, Free Software Foundation, the Innocence Project, and charity: water. Mullenweg is also on the board of Grist.org, a non-profit online magazine that focuses on environmental news.

LOOKING FORWARD: Only in his 30s, Mullenweg should be watched for greater giving down the line.

LINK: Automattic