Likely because if you have any interest in tech valuations you know what Automattic is.

I don't know, Automattic seems much more obscure than a lot of the companies we usually talk about.

"The longer a thread about Automattic exists, the likelihood the WordPress v. WordPress.com argument will come up approaches 1."

The curve grows steeper.

The reason is cultural: on HN you are expected to know products by the name of their corporate entity.

The WordPress Foundation is a separate entity from Automattic at this point. They're just contributors.

"WordPress.com parent" is correct, though. "WordPress parent" wouldn't.

The original post title didn't include the .com, so said "WordPress parent company" which is inaccurate. It was probably submitted to be technically accurate. Now that the post title has been adjusted to include .com, it would make more sense to use that here.

Automattic, makers of Wordpress.com, ... is more accurate.