Snoo, its mascot, looks like a friendly teddy bear, but the antenna that comes out of his head reminds us that he is an extraterrestrial. A status which has not disturbed the stock market success of its owner. This Thursday, March 21, the social network Reddit made a spectacular entry into the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock price rose 48% during the day, bringing the company’s valuation to $9.5 billion (€8.7 billion). Not bad for a company which, in nineteen years of existence, has never earned a cent. In 2023, it lost another $91 million on a turnover of $804 million.
That’s how it is with aliens. We don’t know how they do it, but they clearly have superpowers. In this regard, we can point to an even stronger alien, Donald Trump’s social network, Truth Social. Until 2022, it has not garnered any advertising revenue, according to CBS News, which does not prevent it from claiming to enter the stock market thanks to a special vehicle already listed (SPAC).
This project, postponed several times, could allow the former president of the United States to recover, according to the Financial Times, a whopping $3.5 billion. Unexpected for the Republican candidate, who is drowning in financial convictions, but who will arrive too late to help him pay his $500 million fine for fraud in New York.
Data sales
Steve Huffman’s adventure is less supernatural. He will pocket 17 million dollars following the IPO of Reddit, which he co-founded in 2005. And, good lord, his company will distribute two million shares to the most loyal members of his community. Reddit claims 73 million subscribers, who access nearly 100,000 thematic communities. This is less traffic than on Facebook or even on X, but these are loyal people who spend long hours on the network. Very strong in sports, video games and science, the network gained worldwide notoriety by welcoming candidate Barack Obama in 2012 for a live performance (“Ask me anything”) which saturated the networks.
To justify its valuation, revised downwards compared to its first attempt at 10 billion in 2021, the network explains that it will monetize its activity through the sale of data and more paid services and advertising. A commodification that does not appeal much to the pioneers of the network, attached to the open and non-commercial model of the platform. A return to earth which has not yet been achieved, but which already excites investors. A daring bet but, faced with Trumpian financial acrobatics, little Snoo from Reddit ultimately comes across as a good child.