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This one really rubbed me the wrong way: https://ma.tt/2024/09/charitable-contributions/ https://ma.tt/2024/09/charitable-contributions/ > I have kept my perso

This one really rubbed me the wrong way: https://ma.tt/2024/09/charitable-contributions/ https://ma.tt/2024/09/charitable-contributions/ > I have kept my personal philanthropy private until now. > This is something I’ve tried to keep quiet, because true philanthropy isn’t about recognition. ... > If Lee Wittlinger, who controls Silver Lake’s investments in the WordPress ecosystem, or Heather Brunner, the CEO of WP Engine, would like to publish their charitable contributions over the past 12 years, they are welcome to do so. Is he trying to avoid turning charity into a pissing contest, or is he trying to use his affluence to shame a competitor? This guy literally can't keep his story straight over the course of a single blog post.

patmcc 2y ago
I'm also very curious, given his other statements and how he seems to conflate actions of the foundation, automattic, his own person, and wordpress.org, whether these contributions are his or one of theirs. And to what causes, at that; can you give to your own foundation, I wonder?
- aimazon 2y ago
  The contributions are legit. Despite his claim to have never spoken publicly about his contributions before, he has spoken about them (when it was convenient to make a point about his moral superiority). He donated hundreds of thousands per year to the Apache Foundation, for example. Additionally the WordPress Foundation’s financials are public, they don’t receive many donations (tens of thousands per year).
  - patmcc 2y ago
    Huh, that's very interesting - https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205498932 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205... I though part of Matt's point was that Automattic "gave back" to the foundation?
    - aimazon 2y ago
      The WordPress Foundation is irrelevant to WordPress itself, it just holds events. The WordPress project is owned by Matt and that’s what Automattic donates to (in the form of Automattic employees working roughly 4k hours per week on the WordPress project). There’s also the money spent on running WordPress.org by Automattic but that’s entirely opaque (nobody knows how much it is, although it’s claimed to be millions).

patmcc 2y ago

I'm also very curious, given his other statements and how he seems to conflate actions of the foundation, automattic, his own person, and wordpress.org, whether these contributions are his or one of theirs. And to what causes, at that; can you give to your own foundation, I wonder?

aimazon 2y ago
The contributions are legit. Despite his claim to have never spoken publicly about his contributions before, he has spoken about them (when it was convenient to make a point about his moral superiority). He donated hundreds of thousands per year to the Apache Foundation, for example. Additionally the WordPress Foundation’s financials are public, they don’t receive many donations (tens of thousands per year).
- patmcc 2y ago
  Huh, that's very interesting - https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205498932 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205... I though part of Matt's point was that Automattic "gave back" to the foundation?
  - aimazon 2y ago
    The WordPress Foundation is irrelevant to WordPress itself, it just holds events. The WordPress project is owned by Matt and that’s what Automattic donates to (in the form of Automattic employees working roughly 4k hours per week on the WordPress project). There’s also the money spent on running WordPress.org by Automattic but that’s entirely opaque (nobody knows how much it is, although it’s claimed to be millions).