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The Reddit Files
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Does China Control Reddit? What the 2024 IPO Filing Shows

Reddit's 2024 IPO registration statement (Form S-1) lists Tencent as a minority shareholder of about 11%, behind Advance Publications (Condé Nast's parent) at about 30%. The filing shows no Tencent director on the board and caps Tencent's voting power. The claim that China or Tencent 'controls' Reddit is not supported by the ownership record.

Feb 22, 2024
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Whose side it served: Neither party

The filing record cuts against a partisan narrative in either direction: it shows a minority Chinese investor with capped voting power and no board seat.

What the record shows

The S-1 beneficial-ownership table lists 'Entities affiliated with Tencent' at 11.7% of outstanding shares and 11.0% of total voting power before the offering; Advance Magazine Publishers held 34.5% of outstanding Class B and 30.1% of voting power, and Sam Altman-affiliated entities 8.7%. Advance's shares are listed as 'shares subject to voting proxy' held by CEO Steve Huffman, giving Huffman about 33% of voting power before the offering. A footnote states Tencent Cloud Europe B.V. holds non-voting Series D-1 preferred stock that cannot be converted into voting stock if Tencent's voting power 'would exceed 9.9%' of the total. The directors and director nominee listed (Huffman, Fili-Krushel, Gale, Habiger, Sauerberg, Seibel and Newhouse of Advance) include no Tencent representative. The filing's risk factors also note that Reddit 'is not directly accessible in China.'

In their words

“Reddit is not directly accessible in China.”— Reddit, Inc., Form S-1 risk factors · source
“would exceed 9.9% of the voting power”— Reddit, Inc., Form S-1 ownership footnote on Tencent · source
The other side

An 11% holder is still Reddit's second- or third-largest outside investor, and critics argue a large commercial relationship can create soft influence without board seats or votes. No public evidence of such influence on moderation decisions has been documented.

Sources

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