That lead me to a number of good sources, especially this:

https://mjtsai.com/blog/2024/09/24/automattic-vs-wp-engine/

which links to a lot more

I already knew Matt was throwing a tantrum and refusing to address conflicts of interest. However WP Engine also do not come out of it looking good. Nor do a lot of people in the WP community. Matt is a problem, but it does not look like he is the only problem.