Reddit interim CEO Pao resigns; Huffman regains CEO title

Reddit CEO Ellen Pao was downvoted from her interim position at the company today, resigning after a chaotic week-long online protest.

Pao took to Reddit to apologize to the website’s users and moderators earlier this week, promising improved communication. A spokesperson for reddit indicated that the separation was mutually agreed upon and that Pao will be replaced by original reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman. “She brought focus to chaos, recruited a world-class team of executives, and drove growth”. He said Pao would remain an advisor to Reddit’s board through the end of the year.

Altman criticized “some of the things redditors wrote about Ellen”, noting that she received “death threats” and calling such posts “sickening”.

Speaking to the New York Times, Pao said she was leaving because of a difference of opinion over the direction of the company.

See also: Reddit’s problem is not Ellen Pao.

Unpaid moderators of some of the link-sharing site’s most-read sections temporarily hid them from public view in protest at Victoria Taylor’s dismissal. We haven’t communicated well, and we have surprised moderators and the community with big changes….

Altman suggested that Huffman would push Reddit onto more smartphones. “We couldn’t come to an agreement on that and I decided to step down”.

“The reduction in compassion that happens when we’re all behind computer screens is not good for the world”, wrote Sam Altman, a lead investor in the site. Everyone attacked on reddit is just another person like you and me. Pao has faced vitriol from Reddit users called for her firing. In 2012, Pao made headlines when she filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins.