"Never going to be in that situation again" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian reveals how resigning from Reddit changed his business approach

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, has shared insights into his decision to step down from Reddit's board. Ohanian explained how his experience at Reddit influenced his choice to avoid having a board in his other business ventures.

Ohanian, who co-founded Reddit in 2005, resigned from the company's board in 2020 due to his dissatisfaction with the platform's tolerance towards hate speech. He committed to donating all his future earnings from his shares in the company towards "curbing racial hate" and urged that a Black candidate be appointed to fill his seat.

During a recent appearance on Simon Sinek's 'A Bit of Optimism' podcast, Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian elaborated on his decision to leave Reddit. He explained that he was the sole advocate for banning violence and hate communities on the platform, which left him at odds with the other board members.

The 41-year-old revealed that the ordeal taught him a valuable lesson, leading him to ensure that he would never be in the position to be answerable to someone else when it came to the workings of his companies, like his venture capital firm 776.

"I knew one voice out of five on a board, especially for issues that I really felt strongly about like banning violence and banning hate communities, I realized I was in a room that I wasn't aligned with. And these were things that I knew were just right for business and right for society," Ohanian said.

"So, the promise I made, this was four years ago, I was just never going to let myself be in that situation again. Even in building 776 and all the companies I've built, it's just me. There's no board, so to speak, where I could have four other voices telling me like, no, no, no, no, no, no, communities with violence and gore are fine," he added.

Ohanian also admitted that his experience with the Reddit board opened his eyes to the realities of the world, helping him realize that his wealth and resources allowed him to shape the remainder of his career on his own terms.

"Frankly, it was a moment where I think I shed some of my own naivete about like, how the world actually works, and just realized, you know what? I have enough, agency, I have enough freedom, I have enough wealth that I've been fortunate enough to accumulate. I can just write my own playbook for the rest of my career," Serena Williams' husband said.

"My wife wisely pointed out that if we’d had another kid, they would be jealous" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian explains his decision not to name his firm after daughter Olympia

Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Olympia (Source: Getty)

Serena Williams played a pivotal role in the naming of her husband Alexis Ohanian's venture capital firm 776. Ohanian disclosed that while he had initially intended to name the company after their daughter Olympia, the 23-time Grand Slam champion advised against it, warning that the move would cause jealousy if they had more children in the future.

Taking Williams' suggestion to heart, Ohania opted to pay homage to the year 776 BC, which marked when the first ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece.

"I get this question a lot. People want to know what 776 stand for? Well I was originally naming the firm after Olympia, our first born daughter, because she was a part of the inspiration for me to resign and start 776," Ohanian said.

"I didn’t name it Olympia Capital because my wife (Serena Williams) wisely pointed out that if we’d had another kid, spoiler we do have another kid, they would be jealous. Instead, thinking back to my ancient Greek history classes, 776 BCE was the year of the first ancient Olympic Games. The domain was available and I just went with 776," he added.

Serena Williams' advice proved prudent as the couple welcomed their second daughter Adira in August 2023. Williams and Ohanian recently whisked their daughters to New Orleans to revisit their wedding venue on the occasion of their seventh anniversary.