Reddit CEO Steve Huffman faces backlash over his salary. He earns this much
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman's compensation is restricted stock units and stock options. Here are the details on his salary
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman received backlash over his $193 million salary as people on social media commented on his compensation. Some felt that he earns too much for a platform that doesn't pay moderators or users while others pointed out that it is not fair for a CEO to earn so much when their company is not profitable.
A user wrote in a discussion post about the topic on Reddit, “The feel good moment of simultaneously revealing your CEO is overpaid while your risk assessment underscores the important of unpaid moderators.”
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What Steve Huffman said on his salary?
Defending himself, Steve Huffman said, “Look, I'm glad this question was asked because there's been a lot of commentary on this topic.” The salary is based on salary and stock and is set by Reddit board members based on his performance.
In 2023 as per a SEC filing, he earned $341,346- relatively low for a CEO of a major public corporation. In February, this salary was raised to $550,000 and he also got a $792,000 bonus last year based, it was reported.
Most of his compensation is restricted stock units and stock options and is based on him staying at Reddit through late 2028, according to the SEC filing.
Steve Huffman on “big grant”
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Steve Huffman said that his "big grant at the end of 2023" was a result of the board canceling existing stock awards and granting him this new equity package.
"They did this to simplify things for both the company and me and align my performance with the company's performance. Some of the stock vests at IPO," he said.
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Steve Huffman owns about 3.2% of Reddit and the company is targeting a $6.4 billion valuation for its IPO through which Reddit and its investors plan to sell 22 million shares and they are targeting an issue price of $31 to $34.
What about other CEOs?
Meta cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg gets a $1 annual salary, and was awarded no bonus and zero equity awards in 2020, 2021 and 2020. Elon Musk's pay package at Tesla was valued at more than $50 billion, it was reported.