Founder and CEO of Cheezburger, Inc., Beh Huh, stepped down last week after eight years at the helm of the media company that hosts the popular website I Can Has Cheezburger? which features the fluffy, funny, and spelling-challenged LOLcats. Cheezburger, Inc.’s President and COO, Scott Moore, will step in as CEO, with Huh’s support, and Huh will remain on the Board.
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“Emily and I have sprinted a marathon for the past 8-years,” wrote Huh in Medium announcing his and his wife’s departure after several months of transition, “We became Internet Famous before there was Internet Famous, thanks to all of our users.”
With the mission, “To make the world happy for a few moments every day,” Huh presided over 50 online humor websites with 200 million page views monthly which featured memes, viral content, and active community contributors including I Has a Hotdog! (LOLdogs), FAIL Blog, Geek Universe, Know Your Meme, and Memebase.
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“Cheezburger gave rise to a new category of content,” wrote Huh, “A new industry of global reach, and as some would call it: the downfall of civilization. I say, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ bring it on, because it looks like a lot of fun. We have made a dent in the universe together.”
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Huh is hysterically documenting his “Sabbatical” on Twitter, apparently writing a book in a café. He and his wife also plan to travel, reflect, and connect with friends before starting their next new endeavor.
In a 2011 interview, Huh told KoreAm Magazine that of all his websites, his favorite is still I Can Has Cheezburger?, “It’s the one I save for the end of the day because it’s the one that makes me smile the most.”
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