After a week of unrest on Reddit following the firing of AMA coordinator Victoria Taylor last Friday, the company’s interim CEO Ellen Pao has left the site in what The New York Times reports that the company describes “as a mutual agreement between her and Reddit’s board.”
A Change.org petition by Redditors calling for Pao’s firing had gained over 100,000 signatures over the past week despite the CEO’s apology, and followed a smear campaign last June in which Pao was targeted as payback for admins removing harassing subreddits. Pao was also criticized by some redditors for the sexual harassment suit earlier this year in which she sued her former employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.
Speaking to The New York Times about her departure, Pao explained, “It became clear that the board and I had a different view on the ability of Reddit to grow this year. Because of that, it made sense to bring someone in that shared the same view.”
Pao will remain on Reddit’s board for the remainder of 2015, although her position as CEO will be filled by Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman.
A Reddit post from the company had this to say about Pao’s departure:
https://t.co/ILixAo0v8N #EllenPao pic.twitter.com/eu8hP7I0iB
— Jill Pantozzi (@JillPantozzi) July 10, 2015
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