Alexis Ohanian

Alexis went through a stressful time during the beginning of his career when his girlfriend fell from the fifth story of a building and slipped into a coma. His mother was diagnosed with an inoperable tumor during the same period. However, he recovered from his trauma and continued to do well in life.

He was a great fan of tennis star Serena Williams and got engaged to her in December 2016, after dating her for 15 months. Their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., was born in September 2017. The couple got married in November 2017 in New Orleans.

Alexis Kerry Ohanian was born on April 24, 1983, in Brooklyn, New York City, US, to Anke and Chris Ohanian. His mother was born in Germany, and his father was of Armenian descent.

He graduated from ‘Howard High School’ in Ellicott City, Maryland, where he was a bright student and was chosen to give the graduation student address of his class in 2001. He joined the ‘University of Virginia,’ where he met Steve Huffman and completed a degree in commerce and history in 2005. He worked as a waiter at ‘Pizza Hut’ during his initial days after graduation and then contemplated becoming a lawyer.

His destiny changed when he visited Cambridge with Huffman to attend a lecture by Paul Graham on “How to Start a Start-up.”

His first venture with his friend Steve Huffman was to sell the idea of ‘MyMobileMenu’ to the seed accelerating company ‘Y Combinator’ in 2005. The company liked the idea but suggested the duo to come up with something more novel for them to fund.

They then came up with the idea of ‘reddit.com.’ It was to be a social news and media aggregator where registered members could submit content. The name originated from the phrase “read it.”

‘Reddit’ was accepted as a start-up by ‘Y Combinator’ in 2005 and was sold to the mass media company ‘Condé Nast’ in 2006 for an undisclosed sum between 10 and 20 million dollars. He continued to work closely with ‘Reddit’ as a co-founder with Huffiman and remained a member of the board of directors. He also entered several new ventures at the same time.

He launched ‘Breadpig’ in 2007. The company produces “geeky” products. The products are then sold and the earnings are donated to charity. The company was set up by him and is now running on its own steam, without his day-to-day involvement.

In 2010, he spent three months in Armenia, working in microfinance with the non-profit organization ‘Kiva’ to lend money to small entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries via the internet. The project aimed to help people overcome poverty and become self-reliant. He also launched a company called ‘Das Kapital Capital’ to focus on start-up investments, consultancy, and advice.

He published the book ‘Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed’ in October 2013. The book was ranked number four on ‘The Wall Street Journal’s best sellers list for hardcore business.