Not Conde Nast, Conde Nast's owners, Advance Publications, or when you really get down to it, the Newhouse family.
And the grandparent saying that Advance Publications is "only" a majority shareholder is a little deceptive. The shareholders are Advance Publications, current and former employees (as part of a ESOP) and a small residual ownership of angels in the original company.
While it is true that a majority owner can't just do whatever it wants, the rules protect the financial interests of minority shareholders, mostly in the context of takeovers, not the editorial independence of employees. If Si and Donald decided they really didn't like the NSFW part of reddit I think they could get rid of it.
Did they not just raise many millions of dollars in a new investment round? Did those new investors not receive a percentage of equity in Reddit Inc. as it is organized today?
You're right, mea culpa. It was a $50M investment on a reported $500M valuation. So 10% to the new investors (with a possibly defunct plan to give 10% of that, i.e. 1%, to the site's users), and 90% split between Advance Publications, ESOP, and the legacy angels (reported at less than 1% of the pre-investment total).
As for the ESOP percentage, all I've found is a reference in Forbes that describes it as a "sizable minority".
And the grandparent saying that Advance Publications is "only" a majority shareholder is a little deceptive. The shareholders are Advance Publications, current and former employees (as part of a ESOP) and a small residual ownership of angels in the original company.
While it is true that a majority owner can't just do whatever it wants, the rules protect the financial interests of minority shareholders, mostly in the context of takeovers, not the editorial independence of employees. If Si and Donald decided they really didn't like the NSFW part of reddit I think they could get rid of it.