Yes, there was some controversy in the Node.js world because he sold the project of Express to StrongLoop just as he was leaving for Go. I think it was totally a problem on how things were communicated and that he had really a good intention. What didn't help much though is that StrongLoop then left the project unattended so the main person contributing to it (Doug Wilson) wasn't even acknowledged.

So if an open source project is being sold:

- Make sure everyone knows it's because it'll be better handled and not because of the money.

- At least get a decent amount of money! According to TJ it was half a month worth of money.

- If you are the company buying it don't leave it unattended afterwards.

Anyway, now TJ is surely remembered with a lot of gratitude in the Node.js community and I'm so happy he helped it grow so much!

This is all better explained here (and read the comments for TJ opinion): http://thefullstack.xyz/history-express-javascript-framework...

There was a small controversy when StrongLoop purchased the Express repository from TJ, the creator of the project.