OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Reddit stock is now worth more than $1 billion, thanks to a jump in the company’s stock price following the company’s impressive earnings release.
Mr. Altman owns 12.2 million shares of Reddit. The company’s stock price currently sits at $114 per share, making Altman’s Reddit stock worth about $1.4 billion. Reddit shares soared 40% on Wednesday after an earnings report that predicted a rosy future. It was used by 100 million users every day and reported it was profitable for the first time.
All of this made the financing lucrative for Altman and Reddit’s other shareholders. Its shareholders include a variety of investors. Advance Magazine Publishers, a Condé Nast company. and Vee Capital, the highly secretive Dubai-based investment firm that partially funded Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.
Reddit isn’t the only place Altman is making smart investments. Mr. Altman was a prominent Silicon Valley investor before becoming one of the most famous executives in the world of business and technology with his leadership of OpenAI. His rise to the top of the prestigious startup accelerator Y Combinator gave him immediate access to young, talented executives eager for his guidance and funding. Some of Altman’s most successful bets include investments in startups that have become giants like Airbnb, Uber, and Stripe.
Altman discovered Reddit in the company’s early days. In 2005, Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian, Steve Huffman, and Aaron Swartz were part of Y Combinator’s first class (or “batch” as it was called) when the company was still run by founder Paul Graham. belonged to. At the time, Altman was working on his first startup called Loopt. In 2014, Altman became president of Y Combinator, giving him his first look at the prominent startup in its infancy.
In 2014, Altman led Reddit’s $50 million Series B funding. In a blog post announcing the investment, Altman recalled the time the Reddit co-founders spent together when they were at Y Combinator.
“I was probably among the first few dozen people to use this site, and I shudder to think of the time I spent there,” Altman wrote.
From there, Altman continued to invest in Reddit. In 2021, he poured in $50 million during Reddit’s Series E funding. Later that year, Altman added $10 million to Reddit’s coffers as the company continued to raise money. His investment gave him a major stake in the company, including voting stock.
When Reddit went public in March, Mr. Altman ended up owning even more shares than Mr. Huffman, who was the company’s CEO, according to Reddit’s IPO prospectus.
Altman also served on Reddit’s board of directors until 2021. In January 2022, Reddit announced that it would step down from its board of directors after seven years.
Recommended newsletters
Data Sheet: Stay on top of the latest in the business of technology with thoughtful analysis of the industry’s biggest companies.
Sign up here.
Source link
