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You are indeed misunderstanding. Reddit is an independent entity, not a subsidiary of Condé Nast (like it used to be) and not a subsidiary of Advanced Publicat

You are indeed misunderstanding. Reddit is an independent entity, not a subsidiary of Condé Nast (like it used to be) and not a subsidiary of Advanced Publications (like it used to be). It is an independent corporation, with it's own board of directors, and control of its own finances. Just being a majority stakeholder doesn't mean you control the company either. There are a lot of details like share types and company by-laws that determine that.

bhayden 12y ago
It is probably safe to say Condé Nast has a huge influence in who the board of directors are, and therefore controls reddit still.
- bradleyjg 12y ago
  Not Conde Nast, Conde Nast's owners, Advance Publications, or when you really get down to it, the Newhouse family. And the grandparent saying that Advance Publications is "only" a majority shareholder is a little deceptive. The shareholders are Advance Publications, current and former employees (as part of a ESOP) and a small residual ownership of angels in the original company. While it is true that a majority owner can't just do whatever it wants, the rules protect the financial interests of minority shareholders, mostly in the context of takeovers, not the editorial independence of employees. If Si and Donald decided they really didn't like the NSFW part of reddit I think they could get rid of it.
  - dublinben 12y ago
    Did they not just raise many millions of dollars in a new investment round? Did those new investors not receive a percentage of equity in Reddit Inc. as it is organized today?
    - bradleyjg 12y ago
      You're right, mea culpa. It was a $50M investment on a reported $500M valuation. So 10% to the new investors (with a possibly defunct plan to give 10% of that, i.e. 1%, to the site's users), and 90% split between Advance Publications, ESOP, and the legacy angels (reported at less than 1% of the pre-investment total). As for the ESOP percentage, all I've found is a reference in Forbes that describes it as a "sizable minority".
- brandonwamboldt 12y ago
  No it's not safe to say that at all. Condé Nast is a subsidiary of Advanced Publications, one of MANY (AP is huge). Advanced Publications is the company that owns the majority share of Reddit, Inc. It's unlikely a small subsidiary of AP has much influence on one of AP's investments. We don't even know how much influence AP has, since owning a majority share doesn't mean they have a lot of control. Also Reddit, Inc. just went through a round of investments, so those investors likely have a lot of influence too.
nols 12y ago
Since when is Reddit not a subsidiary of Advance Publications?
- bduerst 12y ago
  Since last year. They were spun off as an independent company, but Advance Publications still has a large amount of equity in Reddit. I think it's because Reddit wanted to try a bunch of things that were too risky for AP.
  - nols 12y ago
    Do you have an article or their announcement? I can't find anything and I'm interested in Reddit's business structure.
    - bduerst 12y ago
      Not on hand, but they're privately traded, so there isn't going to be much information on the equity breakdown or other business structure details.
    - fragmede 12y ago
      http://www.redditblog.com/2011/09/independence.html http://www.redditblog.com/2011/09/independence.html
      - nols 12y ago
        I know they spun off Condé Nast, but according to that they're still owned by Advance Publications. I'm looking for info about them being completely separate.
amyjess 12y ago
You're confusing a subsidiary with a division or at least a wholly-owned subsidiary. A subsidiary is a company whose majority stakeholder is another company, which is exactly what reddit is. If reddit weren't a distinct corporate entity, they'd be a division. Now, since AP doesn't have 100%, reddit isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary, but a company doesn't have to be wholly-owned to be a subsidiary at all.
thieving_magpie 12y ago
Thanks, I see in your other clarifications that AP is the majority shareholder - though there shouldn't be an assumption that they affect reddit's independence. It's still something to keep in mind.

bhayden 12y ago

It is probably safe to say Condé Nast has a huge influence in who the board of directors are, and therefore controls reddit still.

bradleyjg 12y ago
Not Conde Nast, Conde Nast's owners, Advance Publications, or when you really get down to it, the Newhouse family. And the grandparent saying that Advance Publications is "only" a majority shareholder is a little deceptive. The shareholders are Advance Publications, current and former employees (as part of a ESOP) and a small residual ownership of angels in the original company. While it is true that a majority owner can't just do whatever it wants, the rules protect the financial interests of minority shareholders, mostly in the context of takeovers, not the editorial independence of employees. If Si and Donald decided they really didn't like the NSFW part of reddit I think they could get rid of it.
- dublinben 12y ago
  Did they not just raise many millions of dollars in a new investment round? Did those new investors not receive a percentage of equity in Reddit Inc. as it is organized today?
  - bradleyjg 12y ago
    You're right, mea culpa. It was a $50M investment on a reported $500M valuation. So 10% to the new investors (with a possibly defunct plan to give 10% of that, i.e. 1%, to the site's users), and 90% split between Advance Publications, ESOP, and the legacy angels (reported at less than 1% of the pre-investment total). As for the ESOP percentage, all I've found is a reference in Forbes that describes it as a "sizable minority".
brandonwamboldt 12y ago
No it's not safe to say that at all. Condé Nast is a subsidiary of Advanced Publications, one of MANY (AP is huge). Advanced Publications is the company that owns the majority share of Reddit, Inc. It's unlikely a small subsidiary of AP has much influence on one of AP's investments. We don't even know how much influence AP has, since owning a majority share doesn't mean they have a lot of control. Also Reddit, Inc. just went through a round of investments, so those investors likely have a lot of influence too.

nols 12y ago

Since when is Reddit not a subsidiary of Advance Publications?

bduerst 12y ago
Since last year. They were spun off as an independent company, but Advance Publications still has a large amount of equity in Reddit. I think it's because Reddit wanted to try a bunch of things that were too risky for AP.
- nols 12y ago
  Do you have an article or their announcement? I can't find anything and I'm interested in Reddit's business structure.
  - bduerst 12y ago
    Not on hand, but they're privately traded, so there isn't going to be much information on the equity breakdown or other business structure details.
  - fragmede 12y ago
    http://www.redditblog.com/2011/09/independence.html http://www.redditblog.com/2011/09/independence.html
    - nols 12y ago
      I know they spun off Condé Nast, but according to that they're still owned by Advance Publications. I'm looking for info about them being completely separate.

amyjess 12y ago

You're confusing a subsidiary with a division or at least a wholly-owned subsidiary. A subsidiary is a company whose majority stakeholder is another company, which is exactly what reddit is. If reddit weren't a distinct corporate entity, they'd be a division. Now, since AP doesn't have 100%, reddit isn't a wholly-owned subsidiary, but a company doesn't have to be wholly-owned to be a subsidiary at all.

thieving_magpie 12y ago

Thanks, I see in your other clarifications that AP is the majority shareholder - though there shouldn't be an assumption that they affect reddit's independence. It's still something to keep in mind.