Ohanian’s paternal grandparents came to the United States as refugees from the Armenian genocide. His mother, Anke, is German, and his father, Chris, was a travel agent and pharmaceutical technician. An only child, Ohanian’s parents moved to Maryland when he was a child and kept him tethered to his roots by sending him to Armenian summer camps. Even at a young age, Alexis was already showing promise as an entrepreneur. He was the commencement speaker at his high school, Howard High School in Ellicot, Maryland in 2001.
Ohanian has always been passionate about technology. At the University of Virginia, he began studying computer science, but soon after decided to major instead in business, history, and commerce. When he finished college, he and his college roommate, Steve Huffman, launched MyMobileMenu, a food delivery app. While MyMobileMenu didn’t take off, the pair eventually found massive success with their next idea—an online bulletin board which they named Reddit.com.
In 2006, Condé Nast, which also owns Vanity Fair, bought Reddit for an undisclosed sum between $10 and $20 million, and Ohanian continued on as a board member. In 2015, Ohanian and Huffman returned to Reddit to run it independently, but left the company in 2018 to focus on his work as an investor. In 2020, Ohanian resigned from the Reddit board, and requested to be replaced by a Black candidate in response to the murder of George Floyd. He was replaced by Black entrepreneur Michael Seibel.
Beyond Reddit, Ohanian has invested in other technology companies and founded more over the years as well. In 2020, he was the lead investor of the US National Women’s Soccer League and founded Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm that helps founders of technology companies grow their businesses. In May 2025, Ohanian bought a stake in Chelsea Women FC soccer team and sits on its board of directors.
