Jeremiah Johnson admits to having “an embarrassing amount” of Reddit karma. As a long-time moderator of subreddits like r/economics, he was among a select group of power users granted early access to purchase Reddit stock before the company goes public.
Johnson expressed his surprise at Reddit’s decision, stating that it’s uncommon for social media platforms to offer users the same investment opportunities as institutional investors. Reddit has allocated shares in its IPO for sale to 75,000 dedicated community members based on their karma points, a metric used to measure a user’s contribution to the site.
Aside from the typical investment considerations, potential investors are also weighing the possibility of Reddit becoming the next meme stock. Communities like r/WallStreetBets have had a significant impact on the stock market, with notable instances such as the GameStop short squeeze in 2021.
Gillian Tahajian, a 24-year-old marketing analyst, believes that investing early in a meme stock like Reddit could be advantageous. She sees potential in Reddit not just as a platform for memes but also as a search engine alternative to Google.
While Reddit’s relationship with its devoted users has faced challenges recently due to API changes, the opportunity for users to invest early in Reddit’s IPO is seen as a gesture of goodwill by Johnson.
Max Spero, a startup founder, plans to invest in Reddit post-IPO due to his long-standing appreciation for the platform. Despite uncertainties about Reddit’s growth potential, Spero values the organized and thoughtful discussions that occur on the platform.
Amit Kukreja, a stock market YouTuber, remains skeptical about Reddit’s IPO, especially after learning that r/WallStreetBets was listed as a risk. While some users like Kukreja choose not to invest in Reddit, others like Johnson view it as a rational decision in an otherwise unpredictable market.
