Wikipedia indicates it's still a private company. My recollection is they are failing to hit figures that would make for an attractive buy out or IPO.
You can speculate as to why they hired so many people: pandemic tech hiring FOMO, looking more attractive to investors, empire building, not being willing to settle for a paltry 10-figure valuation and so trying to build out to hit 11-figures. But they don't need that many people and they could easily become profitable by doing a big layoff (just as money software companies could). At this point it's not a question of survival or existence for them, nor of IPO readiness, so much as it is IPO optimization.
I don't know the details. I didn't follow it that closely. I don't care that much.
I've read that the business decision that sparked the blackout had something to do with trying to make money. They're a business, not a charity.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. People want endless amounts of free shit. The people who don't want reddit unless it's both free and takes their orders are people I don't personally sympathize with.
I don't really expect to argue this further. I've already argued it way more than I really care to.
And beyond that, how fast do they expect to grow after this many years? Be happy with a good thing! Their growth rate was very impressive!