Amid ongoing protests and marches for the Black Lives Matter movement, the co-founder and executive chairperson of Reddit's board of directors Alexis Ohanian handed in his resignation last week. The move was made as a show of solidarity and support for the movement on his part. At the time, the former chairman urged the company to replace him with a black person instead.
Following through with Ohanian's request, Reddit has selected Michael Seibel to fill in his shoes as the chair of the board. In response to his newly appointed position at the San Francisco based company, Seibel thanked the ex-chair of the board as well as the current CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman. His official statement reads:
"I want to thank Steve, Alexis, and the entire Reddit board for this opportunity. I’ve known Steve and Alexis since 2007 and have been a Reddit user ever since. Over this period of time I’ve watched Reddit become part of the core fabric of the internet and I’m excited to help provide advice and guidance as Reddit continues to grow and tackle the challenges of bringing community and belonging to a broader audience.”
Huffman also commented on the company's decision, expressing that the company is honored to have Seibel as part of the team. He also commended the newly appointed board member for his vast experience in the tech industry and praised his personal character for being 'one of the smartest and kindest people' in the sector.
Judging by his resume, Seibel seems to be an appropriate fit for the job. The Yale-graduate has many notable accomplishments and has held a multitude of big positions in his career, kicking off with the position of finance director for a US Senate campaign. He is also the co-founder of Justin.tv - now known as Twitch - where he served as CEO from 2007 to 2011.
Reddit's newest member of the board also co-founded and served as CEO of another company called Socialcam. Currently, Seibel is a partner and CEO of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator program. He also angel invests in many companies such as Cruise, Brex, Figma, Triplebyte, Reddit, Paystack, Mattermost, and Rezi, and is a huge promoter of diversity and inclusion in the startup sector.
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