Veteran finance exec Drew Vollero, who shepherded Snapchat parent Snap’s initial public offering in 2017, has joined Reddit as its first CFO — as the internet discussion site is mulling an IPO of its own.
Vollero, who has 30-plus years of industry experience including a 15-year stint at Mattel, will assume leadership of Reddit’s finance team starting later in March and report to Reddit COO Jen Wong.
“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 statement. “He will be a tremendous addition to our Executive Team, as Reddit continues accelerating our business and user growth.” The company is laying the groundwork for an IPO but has no timeline on going public, Huffman told the New York Times.
Vollero comes on board a month after Reddit secured $250 million in new growth funding, giving the company an estimated $6 billion valuation. Reddit says it plans to double headcount in 2021, expanding from about 700 to 1,400 employees.
Meanwhile, in December, Reddit bought short-form video platform Dubsmash. Reddit says its site drew more than 52 million daily users in Q4 2020. The privately held company hasn’t disclosed finances but says ad revenue in Q4 rose 90% year-over-year.
Reddit’s prospective arrival in the public markets comes after the site made headlines recently over stock-hyping activity on one of its discussions forums, r/WallStreetBets. That contributed to volatile swings in the shares of GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other stocks targeted by short-sellers — and drew regulatory scrutiny. Reddit has said r/WallStreetBets did not violate any of its policies.
Vollero exited Snap in 2018, after which he joined security-staffing firm Allied Universal as CFO. At Mattel, where he worked from 2000-15, he was a division CFO and later SVP of corporate development, strategy and investor relations. Earlier in his career, Vollero was a manager at Yum Brand’s Taco Bell and PepsiCo. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in math and economics from Yale University and a master’s degree in management from Oxford University.
According to Reddit, Vollero’s favorite subreddits are r/dadjokes, r/worldnews, r/travel and r/leadership.
Reddit was founded in 2005 and acquired by Condé Nast in 2006. In 2011, Condé Nast spun out the site; Advance Publications, parent of Condé Nast, retains a minority stake in Reddit.
