Jen Wong

Company: RedditTitle: Chief Operating OfficerIndustry: TechnologyNotable in 2024: Wong steered Reddit through its landmark IPO in March. Since going public, the social media company's valuation has tripled on soaring ad revenue.

During Covid, subReddit Wallstreetbets became a very public online hub that moved the markets, but the social media company behind it remained private. That changed in March 2024, when Reddit became the first major social media company to go public since 2019. Reddit chief operating officer Jen Wong played a key leadership role in the successful $748 million IPO.

While Wong grew up in a different era of pop culture, she says she has always been immersed in it. "I love the zeitgeist," she told Harvard Business School's Skydeck podcast.

Her childhood included lots of TV, music and People magazine. Her curiosity hasn't dissipated, even if the platforms where she satisfies it are newer.

"I'm the first one to download the new music on Tuesdays. I'm the first one to download some new crazy app and test it out. I love that, and I think it makes me better at my job."

Wong turned that early interest in all things pop into a steady rise up through the ranks of the corporate world, with 15 years of expertise in the digital media space and having held leadership positions at companies including Time, PopSugar, and AOL. And now she has been driving Reddit's business growth, including the expansion of its global advertising and data-licensing efforts, since April 2018.

Reddit's valuation has tripled since going public, and Wong scaled its ad revenue to well over $300 million in 2024. She has continued to diversify Reddit's revenue, and formed data licensing partnerships with Google and OpenAI, preparing the business to keep up with the AI landscape.

For Wong, community is at the center of Reddit – both in-app and in company culture. Whether it be her own queer community or a niche community of Reddit users, Wong said that community has helped her become a better leader and effectuate change.

In an era of social media spurring divisions within society, and as of 2025, being linked more closely than ever to the highest powers in the federal government, Wong is an active advocate for inclusivity in technology, serving as the executive sponsor for the Trans@Reddit and Reddit Asian Network employee resource groups.

"One of the reasons why I wanted to work with our trans ERG is because, even being queer myself, I did not feel like I had strong enough cultural fluency with our trans community," she said in a talk to Berkeley Haas.

That's an approach that mirrors the rise of Reddit. "The mission for Reddit is community, belonging, empowerment for everyone. I give that context because I think we're a very mission-driven company, and I think that shaped a lot of how we thought about the business," she said during the HBS podcast.