Photo: via @alexisohanian/Instagram
The New York Times profile that examines the rise and rise of Alexis Ohanian, the young founder of Reddit and overall "internet cheerleader," is surprisingly poignant. The 30-year-old tech pioneer intimated details of his personal past that prove just how mature beyond his years he has become. When most 23 year olds are planning a post-collegiate stay back in mom and dad's basement, Ohanian was already selling his enormously successful startup, Reddit, to Condé Nast, and using those profits to enrich his parents' lives. He says he used his new fortune to upgrade his dad's Redskins season tickets, but — and Ohanian choked up here — that his mom, just diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at the time, didn't want him to spend money on her. "She said she wanted nothing," he reflected.
Though his successful early twenties were wrought with intermittent family and romantic tragedy, he is now in an optimal place both personally and professionally — and a large part of that is thanks to his girlfriend of two years, microbiology Ph.D. student Sabriya Stukes. In fact, how they met is our favorite part of this story, a key scene in a future tech dramedy about Ohanian's life some day. Stukes set up the geeky meet-cute anecdote perfectly for the Times: She randomly wandered into Ohanian's college dorm. He was playing video games. “I asked him where my friend was; he said, ‘I don’t know,’ and then went back to playing video games.” And somehow that awkward introduction developed into true, long-term love. If that doesn't sound like a Lana Del Rey song come to life, what does? (NYT)