# Yishan Wong

> Yishan Wong is the founder and CEO of Terraformation, a Hawaiʻi-based native forest restoration company founded in 2020. A former Reddit CEO and engineering leader at Facebook and PayPal, he works on practical constraints to global reforestation, including native seeds, nurseries, water, training, software, and finance.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Terraformation
- **Organizations:** Terraformation, Reddit, Facebook, PayPal, Sunfire Offices, Quora
- **From:** Pittsburgh, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Mounds View High School
- **Known for:** Founded Terraformation to address infrastructure, training, software, and financing constraints in native forest restoration., Served as Reddit CEO from March 2012 to November 2014., Held engineering leadership roles at Facebook and PayPal.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and joined PayPal.
- **2001-2005** — Worked at PayPal, including as a senior engineering manager.
- **2005-2010** — Worked at Facebook as a director of engineering, including on crowd translation.
- **2010** — Co-founded Sunfire Offices with Niniane Wang.
- **2012-03** — Became CEO of Reddit.
- **2014-11** — Resigned as Reddit CEO following a disagreement over a proposed new office; Ellen Pao became interim CEO.
- **2017** — Bought degraded land in Hawaiʻi and began evaluating large-scale climate solutions.
- **2020-01** — Founded Terraformation.
- **2021-06** — Terraformation announced the first closing of a $30 million funding round.
- **2021-11** — Announced winners of his Solarpunk Art Contest.
- **2022** — Terraformation launched its forest accelerator.

## Achievements

- Founded Terraformation to address infrastructure, training, software, and financing constraints in native forest restoration.
- Served as Reddit CEO from March 2012 to November 2014.
- Held engineering leadership roles at Facebook and PayPal.
- Terraformation announced a $30 million funding-round first closing in June 2021.
- Terraformation reported 5.4 million trees planted and 19 seed banks deployed in its July 9, 2026 update; these are company-reported figures.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — An October 19 Sustainability Magazine feature examined Terraformation’s hybrid commercial and nonprofit structure, including its forestry infrastructure and capacity-building work.
- **2026-07** — Terraformation’s July 9 company update reported 5.4 million trees planted and 19 seed banks deployed.
- **2026-04** — Terraformation reported more than 5,700 trees committed for planting through its public-backed Hawaiʻi program; commitments are distinct from trees already planted.
- **2026-03** — Pacific Business News profiled Wong and Terraformation’s work scaling reforestation across five continents.
- **2026-02** — Wong and Terraformation president Jad Daley co-authored a post about restoration processes, local capacity, and finance following Davos.
- **2025-11** — Wong discussed Terraware, restoration infrastructure, and copycat organizations on Sustainability In Your Ear.

## Links

- Website: http://algeri-wong.com/yishan/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yishan-wong
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/yishan

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yishan-wong
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-20