Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao, one of the most controversial figures in Silicon Valley, has resigned a week after the firing of a popular employee led to widespread criticism against her on the online message board. Pao, 45, announced her decision to step down in a post published to Reddit on Friday afternoon. She blamed her departure on a disagreement with the site’s board of directors, not the mounting criticism she’d faced from users and moderators.
Steve Huffman, Reddit’s original CEO and co-founder of the site a decade ago, is taking over the job as permanent CEO ( according to Huffman), effective immediately.
In her last Reddit post as the CEO, Pao wrote, “In my eight months as Reddit’s CEO, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly on reddit. The good has been off-the-wall inspiring, and the ugly made me doubt humanity … Why am I leaving? Ultimately, the board asked me to demonstrate higher user growth in the next six months than I believe I can deliver while maintaining Reddit’s core principles.”
Pao came under fire after the company dismissed Victoria Taylor, one of the site’s most popular employees. Users and moderators shut down large sections of the site in protest, and a petition calling for Pao’s removal garnered more than 200,000 signatures.
Before Taylor’s firing, some of the site’s 160 million users had expressed their discontent at the company’s decision to ban a number of communities dedicated to racist, sexist, and fat-shaming topics. The company has allowed users to explore almost any subject, which has led to issues with illegal pornography and hate speech in the past. Reddit has long tried to solve these issues with self-policing led by unpaid moderators, only at times interfering to prevent illegal activities.
Reddit board member and Y Combinator president Sam Altman said on the site that Pao resigned by mutual agreement. He said Pao would remain an advisor to Reddit’s board through the end of the year.
“She brought a face to Reddit that changed perceptions, and is a pioneer for women in the tech industry,” Altman said.
Pao joined Reddit a little over two years ago and became the company’s interim CEO at the end of 2014. Previously, she had worked at venture capital investment company Kleiner Perkins. In 2012, Pao made headlines when she filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins. Pao lost that lawsuit in March, but the case sparked a debate about gender and racial inequalities in Silicon Valley.