To diversify Reddit’s board, a cofounder is stepping down

Score one for Serena Williams’ husband.

Photo by Dia Dipasupil/FilmMagic

To diversify Reddit’s board, a cofounder is stepping down

There are 2 kinds of people in the world: Those who know Alexis Ohanian as Serena Williams’ husband and those who know him as one of Reddit’s 3 cofounders.

On Friday, after 15 years, Ohanian announced he was leaving the Reddit board — and he asked that a black executive take his place. Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman agreed to the plan.

Reddit is getting serious

Ohanian hasn’t been active in the day-to-day of Reddit since 2018, but his decision is a big step: Instead of just talking about diversifying the company’s all-white board, he’s actually doing it.

“I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now,” he wrote in a blog post.

Not only that, but Ohanian committed all of his future Reddit stock gains — possibly as much as $50m, according to TechCrunch — to “serve the black community.” 

His first step: A $1m donation to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp. 

Related Articles

Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t.