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Founding Reddit

Sometime before 2005, Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman met while attending the University of Virginia and became friends. The two envisioned a platform where users could share links and vote on them, giving birth to "the front page of the Internet." Then, in 2005, Reddit was born in an apartment in Medford, Massachusetts, shared by Ohanian and Huffman.

With an initial investment of $100,000 from "Y Combinator," Reddit quickly gained traction, attracting its first users within months.

Later, Aaron Swartz joined the two as a cofounder and merged his company, Infogami, with Reddit in the same year. Swartz advocated for open access to information and believed in the power of the Internet to democratize knowledge.

This is when Reddit became more structured. By 2006, the site boasted over 500,000 daily impressions.

Conde Nast's Reddit Acquisition

In the same year, Condé Nast, a media company, acquired Reddit for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be around $20 million. The acquisition provided Reddit with significant financial backing and resources, enabling it to expand its operations and reach a wider audience. With Condé Nast's expertise in media and publishing, Reddit's growth and development became inevitable.

This move propelled Ohanian and Huffman into the millionaire ranks within just a year, with Reddit moving to San Francisco.

Swartz left Reddit in 2007 after its acquisition by Condé Nast. Swartz's departure from Reddit was primarily due to differences in vision and direction for the platform. 2008, Reddit became an open-source platform, allowing developers to access and modify its code. The site first introduced its advertising program to monetize its increasing traffic.

Over time, Reddit began receiving higher monthly impressions and generated revenues. One of the most popular subreddits, "IAmA" (I Am A), was created. Many famous people, like former U.S. President Barack Obama, would proceed to participate in AMAs (Ask Me Anything) from the community.

Reddit Gold was introduced in 2012 to gather more funding and monetary gains. It's a premium subscription plan offering special features and access to exclusive content.

Reddit Became Independent

Five years after the acquisition, in September 2011, Reddit became operationally independent of Condé Nast. This means that Reddit was no longer directly controlled or managed by Condé Nast, allowing Reddit to hire its own CEO, establish its own ad sales team, and pursue its own path to profitability.

However, in October 2011, Reddit closed "/r/reddit.com" and expanded its number of default subreddits to 20. This decision was likely to streamline the platform, focus on the most popular and active subreddits, and improve the user experience by providing more diverse content on the front page.

In March 2012, Yishan Wong became Reddit CEO.

Between 2012 and 2014, the platform became involved in funding ventures. It donated 10% of its annual ad revenue to non-profits voted among by its users and raised $50 million in funding in a Series B round led by Sam Altman.

In the same year, Yishan Wong resigned as Reddit CEO. Ellen Pao became interim CEO, and cofounder Alexis Ohanian returned to Reddit and became executive chairman.

In 2015, the infamous "upvote" was introduced, which is equivalent to liking a post without commenting.

Reddit's Road To Modernity

From 2016 to 2017, Reddit actively fostered a peaceful online community. This includes curbing online harassment, violent materials, discrimination, and the like. It eventually banned "altright" subreddits for violating its terms of service.

A major update happened in 2018 when Reddit announced the rollout of a new design for the site and its logo Snoo. While there may have been subsequent updates and refinements to the design since then, the core change introduced in 2018 became the foundation of its appearance and branding.

In hopes of continuing Swartz's aim to make Reddit an open source for everyone, RPAN, or Reddit Public Access Network, went live in 2019. It's a feature on Reddit that allows users to broadcast live video streams directly from their mobile devices. This enabled Reddit users to share live content with the community.

In 2020, Reddit updated its content policy to bar "hate based on identity or vulnerability" and banned some 2000 subreddits, including the long-controversial r/The_Donald. Amid #BlackLivesMatter, Ohanian stepped down from the board, intending to be succeeded by a Black candidate. Additionally, the site emblem's orange color was temporarily changed to black for a few months.

From 2021 to 2022, Reddit continued to grow its user base and expand its platform with updated content policies, more avenues for monetization and revenue generation, and other technical infrastructure development.

However, in 2023, Reddit announced new changes to its API pricing, which were set to take effect on July 1. These changes led to concerns among third-party app developers, as they would be required to adhere to the new pricing structure or face potential shutdown.

In response to the API pricing changes, thousands of subreddits went private in protest on June 12. Some subreddits remained private for two days, while others remained indefinitely.

Reddit Went Public

On March 21, 2024, Reddit achieved a major milestone by debuting on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol RDDT. This move signaled the company's transition from a privately held entity to a publicly traded one. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) granted Reddit access to additional capital and made it more visible in the financial markets, opening up new avenues for growth and expansion.

During its debut, VCPost reported that Reddit's stock price soared to 48%, potentially benefiting shareholders. With some earning millions, depending on the shares owned and purchased price.

Steve Huffman is the current CEO of Reddit, which is valued at $6.4 billion, according to Variety.