WordPress is something that would exist in another form if not for Matt Mullenweg. There have been plenty of competing projects. Thanks to good timing WP became the one that a lot of different people contributed to, turning a small project into an 800 pound gorilla. Despite this, Matt Mullenweg and Automattic has used the copyright and trademark to assert and maintain control over it. Some agree with the leadership, some do not, but many website developers are pretty much stuck with it.

https://red-sweater.com/blog/825/getting-pretty-lonely