- Reddit's cofounder Alexis Ohanian said most successful CEOs regret missing out on family time.
- Ohanian and his wife Serena Williams have a five-year-old daughter and are expecting another child.
Reddit's cofounder Alexis Ohanian recently took to X – formerly known as Twitter — to share his thoughts on some of the downsides of being a successful CEO.
He wrote: "Do you know the ONE thing I keep hearing from the most successful CEOs? 'I wish I'd spent more time with my kids.' You can have the most successful career in the world and, turns out, that still won't make up for missing time with your kids."
The tech boss and his wife, pro tennis player Serena Williams, have a five-year-old daughter together Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. The couple announced they're expecting a second child at the 2023 Met Gala in May.
Ohanian has clearly had time to think about the kind of father he wants to be to both of his children because he added to his post: "Luckily, I think the generation of CEOs around me are starting to understand this and want to be amazing leaders, partners, *and* dads.
"It's like a whole new era of fatherhood is emerging – we are trying to do our best work, but show up in ways our Dad's didn't (or couldn't.)"
He concluded: "It's a harmony, not a balance."
Other well-known CEOs have talked about work-life balance in the past.
For example, in a recent speech to graduates at Northern Arizona University, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said that working relentlessly in the earlier part of his career was a mistake. As he got older and became a father he realized "there is more to life than work," he said.