Alexis Ohanian just bagged the Adweek’s Brand Genius award. Indeed, genius, he is! Because it seems, his acumen to judge the outcome of an investment is exceptional. Look at how he developed Reddit. Along with Aaron Swartz and roommate, Steve Huffman, Ohanian founded it in 2005 only to not find much success initially. Serena Williams’ husband dissociated from it 15 years later but did enough to increase its stock value by 15% since it was first launched after entering the public markets in March. Year-over-year revenue and adjusted earnings went up by 20% and 23% respectively. A September 2023 update to the Google algorithm gave Reddit increased visibility in search results, nearly tripling its traffic in just over a year. The same vision has also led Ohanian to invest for the future gain of his daughters. In 2020, Ohanian became a founding investor in the Los Angeles NWSL team Angel City FC alongside his then-two-year-old daughter, Olympia, making her the youngest owner of a professional sports team. But that was not the only one. In the same year, Ohanian made one more investment for Olympia which was not known until he revealed it last month.On August 7, Ohanian explained on ‘The Twenty Minute VC (20VC),’ a podcast hosted by Harry Stebbings that he had invested $250,000 through a trust in 2020. Riding on that, Olympia and Adira have already become multi-millionaires. Calling the “the smartest thing” he did back then, Ohanian said,
So, that very stand has also led him to bring his magical touch to his next big bet: women’s sports.Ohanian’s move to invest in Angel City FC was not out of the blue. Reign FC, the Seattle outpost of the National Women’s Soccer League, was sold for a mere $3.5 million in 2020. According to Ohanian’s estimate, Reign’s star athlete, global sensation Megan Rapinoe, alone would have been worth $3 million. That made him realize how under-invested women’s sports were. Therefore the move. Making Olympia an owner also was a thoughtful move.
