New York (CNN Business)Reddit has hired its first-ever chief financial officer.
The company announced Friday it appointed Drew Vollero to the position — weeks after the site was thrust into the spotlight because of its role in the GameStop trading frenzy. Vollero’s appointment adds to speculation about a Reddit initial public offering, a move its senior leaders have publicly discussed mulling. He previously worked as the first CFO at Snapchat’s parent company Snap (SNAP), helping lead it to a $3.4 billion IPO in 2017. Most recently, he served as CFO of security firm Allied Universal.
“Drew is an industry thought leader who brings a track record of building a global finance organization for high growth companies,” Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Reddit, said in a statement. “He will be a tremendous addition to our Executive Team, as Reddit continues accelerating our business and user growth.”Reddit was all over the headlines in late January, when users of its community WallStreetBets drove a massive surge in the trading volume and prices of GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC) and other “meme” stocks. Huffman testified alongside the CEO of trading app Robinhood and others in a Congressional hearing on the event last month. Read MoreDays after the GameStop frenzy subsided, Reddit announced it had raised a funding round worth more than $250 million from existing and new investors, valuing the company at $6 billion. It plans to use the fund to double the number of Reddit employees this year, as well as to invest in new advertising and consumer products and expand into international markets.
This change could help keep the GameStop fiasco from happening againReddit now has more than 52 million daily active users, the company said, and its advertising revenue grew 90% year-over-year during the fourth quarter. As for a possible IPO, a Reddit spokesperson said “if and when the time is right, becoming a public company is a possibility” — but noted the company is currently focused on “maintaining that positive growth and ensuring we’re helping our users create and maintain healthy communities and providing effective advertising solutions for brands.”Still, Huffman told The New York Times Friday: “We’re thinking about it. We’re working toward that moment,” referring to a public listing, though he said the company does not have a timeline for such a move. Vollero will focus on building out Reddit’s finance team across tax, treasury, audit, financial planning, sales finance, accounting, procurement and investor relations, the company said Friday.
“As Reddit accelerates growth, we are developing the foundation and capabilities to support an increasingly global, large and diverse business,” the company said in the release.Reddit added that among Vollero’s favorite subreddits is r/dadjokes, a forum described on the site as “a homely place for the best and worst of jokes that make you laugh and cringe in equal measure.”
Source: edition.cnn.com
