Ellen Pao Resigns as Reddit CEO

Ellen Pao fought with the redditors, and it looks like the redditors have won. The interim CEO of Reddit resigned today amid much controversy, reports Recode. She tells the website it was a "mutual decision" with Reddit's board, and a board member emphasized that she wasn't fired. She'll be replaced by co-founder and original CEO Steven Huffman. The move comes less than a week after she publicly apologized for mishandling the firing of a top Reddit employee who had worked closely with the site's volunteer moderators, prompting what the Wall Street Journal calls a "user revolt."

Still, Pao says her departure after eight months is mostly about a disagreement with the board over the speed of user growth at the site. “They had a more aggressive view than I did,” she says. In a post on Reddit today, Pao wrote: “I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly on reddit. The good has been off-the-wall inspiring, and the ugly made me doubt humanity.” Earlier this year, Pao lost a high-profile gender discrimination case against a former employer. (More Ellen Pao stories.)