# Steve Huffman on Reddit (u/spez)

Part of Founders and CEOs on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/founders-on-reddit/steve-huffman

Steve Huffman: Co-founder and CEO of Reddit.

- Reddit account: [u/spez](https://www.reddit.com/user/spez/) (Personal account)
- How we know it's theirs: [His 2015 r/IAmA AMA as Reddit's new CEO, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cxedn/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/IAmA (18), r/AskReddit (2), r/modnews (1)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2009 to 2017
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Huffman

## Moments

### u/spez in r/AskReddit, Oct 31, 2016 · Early days

Replying to the post "CEOs of reddit, how did you get there?".

> I started Reddit with my college roommate of four years, Alexis Ohanian (u/kn0thing), immediately after graduation in 2005. Not having a big vision for the company, we more or less went with the flow, building whatever we felt like each day. As a result, when an opportunity to sell came along, we took it, selling to Condé Nast in 2006. We had little expectations for the company, so it seemed at the time like we were getting away with something.
>
> Alexis and I stayed with Reddit, under contract with CN, through 2009. I left because I wanted to try something else. I started Hipmunk in 2010 with another buddy, Adam Goldstein. He was the CEO and I was the CTO. I worked on Hipmunk for the next five years, learning many important lessons and unlearned many bad habits I had developed at Reddit. Meanwhile, Reddit continued to grow, eventually spinning out from Conde in 2012, and raising more money towards the end of 2014.
>
> Reddit went through some hard times (yadda yadda yadda...), and in July of 2015, I returned as CEO.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/5ac12n/ceos_of_reddit_how_did_you_get_there/d9ftvhq/ · 2,715 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/spez in r/IAmA, Jul 11, 2015 · The why

Replying to a redditor:

> Do you plan on reviewing your policy on shadowbanning users? From my understanding this was first implemented as a measure to prevent spam bots from knowing they have been silenced, but has since been expanded to everyday users without there knowledge. Is there any new system in…

> Absolutely. Shadowbanning is for spammers. I created it ten years ago when we were in an arms race with automated spambots, which still attack us constantly. I want it to be as difficult as possible for the spammers to know when they've been caught so that they don't improve their tech.
>
> Real users should never be shadowbanned. Ever. If we ban them, or specific content, it will be obvious that it's happened and there will be a mechanism for appealing the decision.
>
> edit: Removed the word "moderators" because their tools are different from our tools.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3cxedn/i_am_steve_huffman_the_new_ceo_of_reddit_ama/cszv2lg/ · 5,496 points as of Nov 7, 2026