Reddit CEO Steve Huffman: What to know

Reddit filed its long-anticipated initial public offering last week, making headlines with the revelation that CEO Steve Huffman’s total compensation was a cool $193 million last year.

Huffman, who co-founded the social media platform, has kept a relatively low profile, but Reddit’s expected public debut in March is likely to thrust him further into the spotlight.

Huffman launched Reddit with his college roommate, Alexis Ohanian, in 2005. The University of Virginia graduates’ platform was part of tech accelerator Y Combinator’s first batch of start-ups.

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The pair sold Reddit to Conde Nast the next year for $10 million. They have both since expressed regret at selling for such a small amount at the time, given the platform’s success.

Huffman stayed on as acting CEO under the new ownership until 2009, the same year Ohanian left for other pursuits. Huffman went on to co-found travel website Hipmunk in 2010 with software developer Adam Goldstein.

Reddit became an independent subsidiary of Conde Nast’s parent company, Advanced Publications, in 2011, the same year Huffman hit “Inc.” magazine’s 30 Under 30 list.

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In 2014, Ohanian returned to Reddit as executive chairman of the board, and Huffman returned as CEO in 2015. He has been working to take the company public for years.

Ohanian, who is married to tennis champion Serena Williams, stepped down from Reddit’s board in 2020, after he and Huffman reportedly had a falling out over content allowed on the platform, according to Wired. 

Ohanian’s name was noticeably absent from Reddit’s pitch to investors filed last week, but he said in a post on X on Thursday that he still owns some stock that he acquired during his days as executive chair.

Reddit’s S-1 shows Huffman owns 3.3% of the company. Advance Publications is the top shareholder with 34% controlling interest, followed by China-based Tencent Holdings at 11.6%, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has 9.2% voting power.