Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao resigns. Co-founder Steve Huffman takes over.

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The embattled interim CEO of Reddit, who became all the more embattled after the sacking of a popular admin left unpaid mods outraged, is leaving the company.

Recode reported the news of Ellen Pao's departure first. They spoke to Pao, and report that Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and its original CEO, is taking over immediately.

In an interview this afternoon, Pao said the departure was a “mutual decision” with the board, due in part to different views on growth potential. “They had a more aggressive view than I did,” she said.

When I asked her directly if she was fired, Pao laughed and said, “Thanks for getting right to the point,” but again underscored that she resigned. Reddit board member and Y Combinator head Sam Altman answered more definitively about whether she was ousted: “No.”

Perhaps it is a matter of semantics, as it seemed that Pao — who has been interim CEO at the company — was inevitably headed for the exit after the ire over the firing of a support staffer for the site’s many moderators morphed and mutated into loud and sometimes vile calls for her ouster.

That came after the community erupted over the firing of a single employee.

If you haven't been following this closely, catch up with the details here. And here's Mike Isaac's easy-to-digest NYT take on what went down.

Ellen Pao, interim CEO of Reddit, will be succeeded by Steve Huffman. [Reuters]


Ellen Pao, interim CEO of Reddit, will be succeeded by Steve Huffman. [Reuters]