Look Who's Going Public

Reddit files for IPO, wants users to be shareholders
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 16, 2021 6:41 AM CST
Reddit Files for IPO
This June 29, 2020 file photo shows the Reddit logo on a mobile device in New York.   (AP Photo/Tali Arbel, File)

Reddit is going public. The popular social media site known for "ask me anything" conservations with celebrities and the hot WallStreetBets investors forum, said late Wednesday that it has confidentially filed paperwork for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined," the company said in a blog post, per the Wall Street Journal, adding the IPO "is expected to occur after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions."

Back in September, Reuters reported that Reddit was preparing for an IPO after becoming "the go-to destination for day traders chasing this year's frenzy for so-called meme stocks." The forum responsible, WallStreetBets, brought in new advertisers and millions of new users. Reddit had more than 52 million daily users and 100,000 active sub-reddits as of August, per the Verge. In October, CEO Steve Huffman suggested Reddit's share offering would be accessible to individual investors. "I want our users to be shareholders," he told the Journal. Users are already scheming about pumping up the stock price, per Bloomberg.

Reddit, founded in 2005, announced in August that it had raised $700 million in funding, pushing its valuation to $10 billion, up from $6.5 billion in February. It also said it made $100 million in ad revenue in the second quarter, for a 200% increase from the previous year. The IPO announcement comes after "a banner year for stock-market debuts," with more than 900 companies going public and raising almost $300 billion, the Journal reports. That's compared to "664 for all of 1996—the dawn of the internet stock mania—and 555 in 2020," per CNN. (Bumble's debut made its 31-year-old founder a billionaire.)

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