Reddit, the popular social media platform, has priced its shares at $34 for its initial public offering, signaling strong investor demand for growing tech companies. The San Francisco-based company’s pricing was at the high end of expectations, valuing Reddit at $6.4 billion.
The offering raised $748 million and Reddit’s shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RDDT. This pricing is seen as a positive sign for start-ups and venture capitalists, as Reddit’s IPO has been closely watched as a test for private tech companies entering the public markets.
Founded in 2005, Reddit has had a long journey to the public markets, with a history of experimentation with revenue models and leadership changes. In recent years, the company has focused on building its advertising business, data licensing, and partnerships for large language models.
Despite its financial growth, Reddit has faced challenges from its user base, with concerns about the impact of becoming a public company on the platform’s community-driven culture. CEO Steve Huffman has acknowledged these concerns, stating that Reddit shares the same love and fear of losing the platform as its users.
The offering was led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, and Reddit’s largest shareholders include co-founder Steve Huffman, Advance Magazine Publishers, and Tencent Cloud Europe. With its successful IPO, Reddit joins the ranks of other tech companies like Instacart and Arm that have seen strong performance in the public markets.
