Why pthread_exit acts like pthread_join?

Code:

void *PrintHello(void *threadid)
{
   cout<<"Hello"<<endl;
   sleep(3);
   cout<<"Still PrintHello is alive"<<endl;
}
int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
   pthread_t threads[NUM_THREADS];
   cout<<"Calling thread:"<<t<<endl;
   pthread_create(&threads[0], NULL, PrintHello, NULL);
   //pthread_join(threads[0],NULL);
   cout<<"Main exits"<<endl;
   pthread_exit(NULL);
}

Why pthread_exit(NULL) here acts like pthread_join()? i.e Why exiting main not destroying the printHello thread and allowing it to continue?