Social media company Reddit has announced that it has confidentially filed for a proposed initial public offering (IPO). The filing was done before the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
Reddit did not disclose the number of shares to be offered or the price range of the IPO in the statement. It also did not disclose the valuation it would seek in the IPO. However, news agency Reuters reported in September that Reddit was looking at a valuation of more than $15 billion.
Reddit had roughly 52 million daily active users and over 100,000 communities, or “sub-reddits,” as of October last year.
On one such sub-reddit, WallStreetBets, users almost instantly started a discussion on the company’s move to introduce an IPO. Some users worried that a stock market listing marked the beginning of the end of Reddit’s free-wheeling culture, while others saw the opportunity for more fun – and potentially profit.
Surveillance was a clear concern. ‘KetoIsRacist’ predicted ‘mass censorship.’ Meanwhile ‘wearethesamewave’ was convinced that the company had increased its ads to signal that change was coming.
Reddit was founded in 2005, and over the years, has become one of the world’s most influential social media companies. The website hosts message boards on a wide variety of topics.
Since its inception, Reddit has seen a roller coaster ride. It was started by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian, but was acquired by Conde Nast in 2006. This changed the fabric of the company, making it stand apart from other social media contemporaries like Twitter and Facebook.
Huffman returned to the helm in 2015, but not before Reddit went through a number of other chief executives.
Its biggest investors include Fidelity Investments, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Tencent Holdings.