IPO = Initial Public Offering, where shareholders offer to sell their shares to the public, shifting a company from a “private company” (it belongs to me, you, and that guy) to a “public company” (it belongs to anyone who pays enough for the shares).
The userbase has been always touchy when it comes to IPO, and rightfully so; they know that the new owners will only care about squeezing the platform dry. As such, I predict a new flood of Redditfugees to Lemmy and Kbin.
Lots of little suckers, as opposed to any big single one. An IPO means its going to hit the stock market. You could buy a share, and then go to a shareholder meeting and yell at them if you wanted. Theoretically.