[jarito]

Did you read the PDF? WP Engine answers this - quote below. They employed (or used to employ) WordPress core contributors and have spent lots of money in the community. It's not 'Matt's Product' but an open source code base supported by a large community.

=== Quote ===

Contrary to Mr. Mullenweg’s statements that WP Engine does not contribute to his narrow and self-serving definition of the WordPress community, WP Engine has been deeply dedicated to advancing the use and adoption of WordPress through innovation, investment, and active community involvement. WP Engine has contributed tens of millions of dollars in ongoing support for the broader community through events, sponsorships, and the development of educational resources, including sponsorship of WordCamps worldwide and producing DE{CODE}; educating and empowering the WordPress community through content like the WordPress Roundup and the Building WordPress series; hosting, funding and actively maintaining multiple Open Source projects (e.g., ACF, WPGraphQL, faust.js) within the ecosystem used by millions of websites around the world; and producing informative webinars, podcasts, and tutorials. Even considering Mr. Mullenweg’s incorrect statement that contribution is only based on hours worked and contributors to Five for the Future, Mr. Mullenweg falsely stated that WP Engine is failing on this metric. In reality, WP Engine is ranked 30 out of 189 in hours contributed and 16 out of 189 in contributors, significantly outpacing multiple other contributors relative to our revenue.

=== End Quote ===

Blackmail is not okay - even if what he argues is true. He could have just done his presentation as he wanted and, as long as his claims are actually true, he wouldn't have had any trouble. Instead he tried to Blackmail a company into giving his FOR PROFIT COMPANY money. This wasn't about supporting WordPress, this was about rent seeking for his own organization.