It’s “love” for Serena Williams and social media site, Reddit, co-founder, Alexis Ohanian.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner used the platform to announce her engagement to the tech entrepreneur on Thursday.
While the tennis superstar is a household name, those outside of Silicon Valley might not be too familiar with Ohanian.
Here’s a look at five things to know about the guy who helped create the link-sharing site that has been called “the internet’s front page.”
- He’s far from being a billionaire
With his college roommate, Steve Huffman, Ohanian sold Reddit to Conde Nast in 2006, one year after the duo started the site – earning both recent grads a big payday.
However, Ohanian is far from being one of Silicon Valley’s billionaires. Various online sources peg his net worth somewhere between $4.5 and $6 million. Forbes estimates Williams’ net worth is $150 million.
- He wanted to be a professional footballer
Growing up, Ohanian wanted to be a professional football player, but “he slowly realised his desire to play professional football would potentially not pan out,” according to his website.
- He’s a bestselling author
In 2013, Ohanian wrote Without Their Permission, a book focusing on harnessing the power and reach of the internet for the greater good.
- His mission: To make the world ‘suck less’
Ohanian is now back at Reddit, serving as the executive chairman. He runs a section titled Making the World Suck Less, which has long been his credo. In between his stints at Reddit, Ohanian helped start several companies and “focused his time and energy to founding and investing in companies that fit his model of making something people love and making the world suck less,” according to his website.
- He knows he’s the ‘luckiest nerd’ of them all
After Williams broke the news of their engagement on – where else – Reddit, Ohanian took notice of a hilarious update to his Wikipedia page. “Ohanian is engaged to the tennis great Serena Williams. In other words, Ohanian is now the luckiest nerd of us all,” it said.
He responded on Twitter with a laughing emoji and a Reddit-style “up vote” arrow, showing that he absolutely agrees.
