Reddit CEO resigns to escape the stress of leadership

After more than two years working as the CEO of one of the most popular websites in the world, Yishan Wong was exhausted. “I’m basically completely worn out, and it was having significantly detrimental effects on my personal life,” Wong confessed on Q&A site Quora, a few hours after news broke that he had resigned as CEO of Reddit on Thursday. The official line from Reddit was that Wong had resigned a little more than a week ago after disagreeing with the board about new office space. 

Yishan Wong has given his side of the story as to why he left his position as CEO of Reddit, a job he has held since 2012. Writing on Quora, a company he’s an advisor to, Wong explained that he left Reddit due to a host of personal reasons. (It’s notable that he chose Quora over Reddit for his note — normally he writes corporate messages on Reddit.) “After two and a half years, I’m basically completely worn out,” Wong said. “It was having significantly detrimental effects on my personal life.” He went on to describe the job as “incredibly stressful and draining,” saying “I probably pushed myself way too far.” Y Combinator founder Sam Altman had stepped in as Reddit’s interim CEO for eight days, before the company appointed Ellen Pao as the new CEO. Writing on his blog, Altman said that Wong had left Reddit due to a disagreement over the location of the company’s new office. Wong had wanted to move the company to Daly City to avoid high San Francisco rent prices, but the board opposed him.