Reddit Hires First Chief Financial Officer As It Mulls Public Filing

Online community network Reddit appointed Drew Vollero as its first chief financial officer (CFO). The veteran finance executive was also Snap’s first CFO and helped take the company public in 2017.

“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 Friday (March 5) blog post.

Huffman added that Reddit’s user growth has accelerated along with advertising revenue, and Vollero “will be a tremendous addition.” Aside from Snap, Vollero ran financial operations for Mattel, Pepsi, and most recently, Allied Universal. 

Vollero will be in charge of expanding the finance team in all areas — tax, treasury, audit, financial planning, sales finance, accounting, procurement and investor relations. He will report to the Reddit Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong. 

Reddit was founded in 2005, acquired by Condé Nast a year later, and in 2011, was spun off. Condé Nast parent Advance Publications still has a minority stake. Reddit recently topped 52 million daily visitors and saw fourth-quarter advertising revenue increase 90 percent year-over-year. The social platform has more than 100,000 interest-based communities known as subreddits.

Huffman told The New York Times that Reddit is mulling the possibility of a public offering but doesn’t yet have a timeline. “We’re thinking about it. We’re working toward that moment,” he said.

The addition of a CFO comes a month after the Silicon Valley firm raised $250 million — its largest venture round — led by Vy Capital. The new funds give the company a $6 billion valuation. The funding followed headlines that a Reddit community helped drive up the share price of GameStop and other brands.

The escalation of GameStop share prices, which reportedly was largely fueled by Robinhood investors and members of the Reddit community WallStreetBets, has ignited conversations about financial literacy.