Alexis Ohanian
Alexis Kerry Ohanian (Armenian: Ալեքսիս Քերի Օհանյան; born April 24, 1983)[1] is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known as the co-founder and former[2] executive chairman of the social media site Reddit along with Steve Huffman and Aaron Swartz. He also co-founded the early-stage venture capital firm Initialized Capital, helped launch the travel search website Hipmunk, and started the social enterprise Breadpig. He was also a partner at Y Combinator.
Alexis Ohanian
- Entrepreneur
- venture capitalist
- investor
2
Ohanian is based in Florida, where he lives with his wife, former tennis player Serena Williams, and their daughters, Alexis Olympia Ohanian and Adira River Ohanian.
As of 2019, Forbes estimated Ohanian’s net worth as $70 million.[3]
Early life[edit]
Alexis Kerry Ohanian was born in Brooklyn, New York City.[4][5] His paternal grandparents came to the United States as refugees of the Armenian Genocide.[5][6] Ohanian's mother was an immigrant from Germany.[5][6] He went to Howard High School in Ellicott City, Maryland, where he gave the student address for his graduating class in 2001.[7][8]
Advocate for paternity leave[edit]
Following the birth of his daughter, Ohanian became an advocate of paternity leave and wrote an article about his experience following his daughter's birth in the New York Times.[54] "After my wife nearly died giving birth, I spent months at home caring for my family".[55] In June 2019, Ohanian announced his plans to bring the pledge to lawmakers on Capitol Hill in late 2019 in a push to pass federal paid family leave legislation. He stated that "I hope to be meeting with many senators, representatives, plenty of dads, on both sides of the aisle, in both houses of the Legislature, who want this to be the law of the land".[56]
Personal life[edit]
On December 29, 2016, Ohanian became engaged to Olympian tennis player Serena Williams.[57] Their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, was born on September 1, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida.[58] Ohanian and Williams married on November 16, 2017, in New Orleans.[59] Guests at the wedding included Beyoncé, Anna Wintour, Kelly Rowland and Kim Kardashian.[60] Ohanian has said that "watching Williams compete has changed how he measures success in business".[61] Ohanian and Williams gave their daughter a doll, called Qai Qai, which has become famous on social media.[62] In May 2023, it was revealed that Williams was pregnant with the couple's second child in an announcement before the Met Gala, where she was seen visibly pregnant.[63] Williams gave birth to their second daughter in August 2023.,[64] Adira River.
Philanthropy[edit]
Since 2022, Ohanian has been funding climate-related projects started by young founders via a grant program modelled after the Thiel Fellowship.[65] The fellowship is intended for students aged 23 or younger and offers them a total of $100,000 over two years, as well as guidance and other resources, to drop out of school and pursue work related to combating climate change, which could involve scientific research, creating a startup, or working on a social movement. Selection for the fellowship is through a competitive annual process, with 20 fellows selected annually.
Awards and honors[edit]
In 2011 and 2012, Ohanian was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list as an important figure in the technology industry.[66][67] In 2013, Ohanian and Erik Martin were featured as "champions of innovation" in the 20th Anniversary issue of Wired.[68] In 2015, Ohanian was named to the Crain's "40 Under 40" list for business.[69] In 2016, Ohanian was named one of Fast Company's "Most Creative People in Business".[70]
On May 21, 2020, Ohanian delivered the Commencement address for The Johns Hopkins University Class of 2020.[71]
In December 2022, Ohanian was named a 2023 Money Changemaker[72] by the Money magazine.
In the media[edit]
Published works[edit]
Ohanian published a book titled Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed on October 1, 2013.[73][74] Without Their Permission ranked fourth on The Wall Street Journal's best sellers list for Hardcover Business.[75] In connection with the book, Ohanian embarked on a five-month, 150-stop and 75-university tour to promote the book.[76][77]