What happened
Alongside Yishan Wong's November 13, 2014 resignation and Ellen Pao's appointment as interim CEO, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian returned to the company full time as executive chairman. Ohanian had co-founded Reddit with Steve Huffman in 2005 while at the University of Virginia, helped sell it to Condé Nast in 2006, and stepped back from day-to-day operations around 2010 to pursue investing, activism, and writing. His return placed an original founder back at the center of the company during a period of leadership upheaval.
In the executive chairman role, Ohanian took responsibility for marketing, communications, strategy, and community relations, complementing Pao's operational leadership. His comeback marked a broader reassertion of founder influence over Reddit's direction, and it foreshadowed the eventual return of co-founder Steve Huffman as CEO in mid-2015. Ohanian remained a prominent public face of the company for years, ultimately departing the board in 2020 amid the racial-justice protests and again as it approached its 2024 IPO.