On April 23, 2025, 📝Discord announced that co-founder 📝Jason Citron would step down as CEO after 13 years, replaced by 📝Humam Sakhnini effective April 28, 2025. Citron transitioned to an advisor and board role. Co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy continues as CTO.
The move is widely interpreted as pre-IPO positioning — swapping a founder-CEO for a public-company monetization operator ahead of Discord's confidential IPO filing (January 2026, Goldman Sachs / JPMorgan).
Community Backlash
The appointment triggered a Change.org petition and broad community concern. Objections center on:
- Sakhnini's tenure at 📝Activision Blizzard during its 📝sexual harassment scandal and cultural crisis
- His background running King (Candy Crush), a studio synonymous with aggressive microtransactions
- Fear that Discord will shift toward Activision-style monetization and ad saturation
- Timing alongside the IPO, signaling a pivot from community-first to shareholder-first priorities
The backlash compounds existing user frustration over Discord's September 2025 privacy policy overhaul and age verification controversy.
The hire reads as Discord's board choosing IPO execution over community goodwill. Sakhnini is a monetization operator, not a community builder — and the user base knows it.