this post was submitted on 28 Feb 2024
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Wait. Why is Reddit losing so much money? (www.businessinsider.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by spider@lemmy.nz to c/reddit@lemmy.ml
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Reddit kind of anticipates this critique in its investor docs, and argues that it didn't really start operating as a serious business until 2018 when it finally started "meaningful monetization efforts" — that is, trying to make money for real.

But that's still six years ago. What has Reddit been doing since then?

One big, obvious answer: It has been hiring a lot of engineers and spending a lot of money on their salaries...

...What am I missing? I asked Reddit comms for comment but they declined, citing the company's quiet period before the IPO.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

I just read yesterday that Spez was paid $193M last year. Idk if that's accurate (it seems very high), but if it is, y'all might start looking there for the missing money

[–] melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

The $193 million figure is misleading because the majority of it is stock, so that number isn't cash and is just an estimate of value since there isn't even an open market for the stock. The IPO will show how much it's really worth I guess.

He was paid a little over a mil in actual salary + bonus, which is still too much but not nearly as ridiculous.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

That's an enormous stock package. Stock carries real value, and when the stock IPOs he could have considerably more value than the current estimate. Even huge companies with billions in profits don't generally give their CEO such a large compensation package for a single year. The decision to award that to him certainly raises questions about management's competence. Well, it raises additional questions, since I don't think anyone doesn't already have questions about their competence.

[–] spider@lemmy.nz 1 points 9 months ago

From what I understand, a relatively small part it is his actual salary, and most of it is deferred compensation.