Reddit Inc. Chief Executive Steve Huffman reiterated his praise on Sunday for the r / WallStreetBets forum that has shaken Wall Street’s “meme stocks” over the past few weeks – though he said he doesn’t get his own financial advice there.
At a congressional hearing last week, Huffman said he was proud of Reddit’s role in the frenzy that has thrown GameStop Corp. GME sent,
and AMC Entertainment AMC,
among other strong short-short stocks, sky high. After falling back to Earth, GameStop’s stock rose again last week, up 150%, again attributed to Reddit chatter.
In an interview with “Axios on HBO” that aired Sunday night, Huffman expanded on the role of WallStreetBets: “That community exposed a gap between those who have access to the financial markets and those who are outside,” he told Axios. . “In WallStreetBets you see, among other things, a community breaking into – or trying to break through – into that establishment.”
At last week’s hearing, Huffman went so far as to say that Reddit is one of the best places to get financial advice, “because it has to be accepted by many thousands of people before it becomes visible.”
But when Axios asked if he’s taking financial advice from Reddit forums, Huffman said he didn’t.
“No, in my personal life I am very conservative financially,” he said. “Because Reddit is a growing company, the risk is extremely high, so that’s risk enough for me personally.”
In the interview, Huffman also praised Reddit’s forum moderation system, saying the company will continue to allow pornography on its platform as long as it isn’t exploitative. ‘You can watch [porn] as exploitation. And indeed, a lot of it is, ”Huffman said. And that’s not the content we want on Reddit. But there is another aspect that gives strength. And these are people sharing stories about themselves, pictures of themselves. And we are behind that perfectly. ”