Pao Out as Reddit CEO, Co-Founder Huffman Takes Over

day Today in a joint announcement, reddit and Interim CEO Ellen Pao announced that she was officially stepping down from her role. Reddit’s co-founder and original CEO, Steve Huffman, will return to his original position. Alexis Ohanian will remain on the board and retain his co-founder title. “We are thankful for Ellen’s many contributions to reddit and the technology industry generally,” stated Sam Altman, CEO Board Member and President of Y Combinator. “She brought focus to chaos, recruited a world-class team of executives, and drove growth. She brought a face to reddit that changed perceptions, and is a pioneer for women in the tech industry. She will remain as an advisor to the board through the end of 2015. I look forward to seeing the great things she does beyond that.” According to Pao, the official reason for her resignation (note: not fired) was due to misaligned goals between her and the board. “So why am I leaving? Ultimately, the board asked me to demonstrate higher user growth in the next six months than I believe I can deliver while maintaining reddit’s core principles,” stated Pao. As Huffman transitions into his new role, he will be leaving behind his position as CTO of Hipmunk, a growing travel site that he co-founded with Adam Goldstein in 2010. Pao will remain an advisor through the end of the year. Until now it was also unclear how reddit’s board was going to, if ever, identify a permanent CEO to fill Pao’s shoes.