There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t know about Snapchat these days. After all, it’s one of the most popular social media apps currently. However, do you know who owns Snapchat or how it all started? Unlikely!
And you aren’t the only one. Most people don’t know much about the incredible minds behind the apps that are such an integral part of our lives. Of course, there are exceptions like Jeff Bezos, who shot to fame by becoming one of the richest men worldwide with Amazon. Or Elon Musk, who is set to take over Twitter. And, of course, Mark Zuckerberg who owns Facebook.
But not all founders come into the limelight. A lot of people believe Snapchat must be owned by another tech giant. But they are gravely mistaken. And it’s time to learn more about who owns Snapchat and created an app that has redefined our social media presence.
Who Owns Snapchat: the Minds Behind the App
As we have already stated, Snapchat isn’t backed by a big corporation like Google. In fact, it’s a part of Snap Inc., a company that initially operated under the name of Snapchat Inc. However, it rebranded itself in 2016 and now goes by the name Snap Inc.
Two people are behind the success of this company who launched and co-founded it in September 2011. If you want to know who owns Snapchat, it’s Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel.
Bobby Murphy is not only the co-founder of Snapchat but also the chief technology officer. Hence, he owns 15% shares of the company while Evan Spiegel holds 13%. This social media company has given immense success to both these men, and there are no signs of stopping.
You must not have seen a lot of Bobby Murphy, who prefers working behind the scenes. In fact, the only time he ever speaks to the media is when he has to give some technology-based interviews.
Evan Spiegel is basically the face of the company. He is in charge of all public relations work. This is why more people think of only Spiegel when they think about who owns Snapchat.
The pair goes way back as they both hail from Stanford University. They were fraternity brothers, when they met for the first time. Bobby Murphy was actually two years older than Spiegel.
Interestingly, Spiegel hadn’t even graduated when Snapchat was founded. He dropped out of Stanford to run this startup. And since then, there has been no looking back for him. The decision made him a billionaire when he was merely 25 years old. Indeed, Spiegel currently has a net worth of $13.6 billion. Bobby Murphy’s net worth is slightly higher at $14.9 billion.
The Interesting and Inspiring Operations at Snapchat
Aspiring entrepreneurs can learn a lot from how Murphy and Spiegel have handled their company and partnership since its inception. Not many co-founders continue to work together with such incredible rhythm for so many years. But the owners of Snapchat never lost their footing.
Want to know something interesting? Although the air together owns 30% of the company’s share, they don’t have voting rights. Those shares are with public stockholders.
Think about how much they have achieved with their startup. Spiegel became the youngest billionaire in 2015, and the success of Murphy is no less. Murphy earned a spot on Forbes’s 30 under 30 list for consumer technology three years after the company was released to the public.
To date, Snapchat has over 300 million active users. Indeed, billions of posts are made on the platform daily. It’s incredible how well it works out for some to have dropped out of college. This gives you another valuable lesson for entrepreneurship. You don’t always need a college degree to be successful. If you have an amazing idea and the courage to pursue it, nothing can stop you.
How It All Started for Snapchat
Murphy and Spiegel weren’t the only ones behind Snapchat. When the company was launched in 2011, it had three founders, including Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown. In fact, the original idea for Snapchat came from Brown.
He wanted to create a platform where users could post videos and pictures that would disappear after a while. He brought this idea to Spiegel, who really warmed up to it. Together, they approached Murphy, who knew how to code.
Murphy was just as enthusiastic as he believed the idea would be an immense success among young Internet users. The three launched Picaboo. But soon, differences cropped up as Murphy and Spiegel felt Brown wasn’t contributing much to the project compared to them. Hence Brown was laid off after a couple of months.
Murphy and Spiegel then rebranded Picaboo into Snapchat. When the social media platform eventually went public, Reggie Brown was paid $157 million and listed as a co-founder for his contributions.
Do you wonder why Spiegel and Murphy managed to work together so well for so long? This is because they were clear about their responsibilities. They had designated tasks to themselves, and neither interfered in each other’s work. From the beginning, Spiegel was responsible for PR and business management, while Murphy was the chief executive officer. The pair recognized their talents and skills and used them for the benefit of their company.
The Raging Success of Snapchat
Snapchat has come a long way since its inception. Such is its success that Facebook has been desperate to buy it for years. But Snapchat founders have held their ground. They are not interested in selling their business.
Facebook even offered around $3 billion for the social media platform as it wanted to change its user base. But the founders turned them down.
If there’s one thing that the success of Snapchat teaches us, it’s that there’s always a market for unique and innovative ideas. All that’s needed of you is to take that first step. More than knowing who owns Snapchat, it’s crucial to understand how these two men have attained such an incredible feat.
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