Tiger Global has invested $50 million in Automattic, the company behind the Web software and blogging platform WordPress, developed by Matt Mullenweg. The transaction involves secondary stocks – Tiger Global bought stocks from existing Automattic stockholders, like the earliest investors or employees.

Matt Mullenweg: Automattic is healthy, generating cash, and already growing as fast as it can so there’s no need for the company to raise money directly — we’re not capital constrained.

“The minority of stockholders that elected to participate are holding on to the vast majority of their shares,” says Matt Mullenweg. “We’re building an independent company that’s going to be a growing part of the fabric of the Web for many years to come, so allowing early investors to lock in some returns releases any short-term pressure there might be on the company for a liquidity event,” he adds. 

Automattic employs some 170 employees, and WordPress powers roughly 18% of sites on the Internet (Tech Taffy: is powered by WordPress, as well), according to Toni Schneider, CEO of Automattic.