Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, reminisced about his “green hair” days, suggesting that if a company CEO had a similar unconventional phase, their employees would likely thrive. Ohanian, along with his University of Virginia classmate Steve Huffman, co-founded Reddit. During the company’s early days, Ohanian served as CEO.

Ohanian, a history and business student at the University of Virginia, teamed up with his computer science classmate, Huffman, to pitch MyMobileMenu to the Y Coordinator as a potential business idea in 2005. After receiving encouragement from the technology startup accelerator, Ohanian and Huffman co-founded Reddit, with the goal of making it the “front page of the internet.”

Besides focusing on business during his UVA days, the 41-year-old had a passion for music and video games. Sporting green-dyed hair reminiscent of Billie Joe Armstrong from the legendary rock band Green Day, Ohanian recently shared a throwback photo on X, showcasing his “green hair phase.”

Ohanian also added a humorous caption, suggesting that employees are more likely to thrive under a CEO who has experienced a “green hair phase” at least once in their life.

“If your CEO never had a Green Hair phase, you’re not gonna make it,” he wrote.

In 2006, Ohanian and Huffman sold Reddit, their brainchild, to Condé Nast. After stepping down from their leadership roles in 2009, Huffman returned as CEO in 2015 and continues to hold the position.