Who Owns Snapchat
Share
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
In September 2011, three Stanford University students, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown and Evan Spiegel, launched a photo, video and messaging app called Snapchat. Seven years later, Snapchat is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms with an estimated 200 million daily users, according to company reports. With such success comes the question of just who owns Snapchat.
The simple answer to this question is that Snapchat is owned by the holding company Snap Inc., which was founded by Spiegel, Murphy and Brown in June 2016. Snap Inc. owns many of Snapchat’s applications, including Bitmoji, Lens Studio and Spectacles, as well as Snapchat.
Spiegel and Murphy remain the majority owners of Snap Inc. They each have been awarded stock options that by 2021 will give them a combined 48.1 percent of Snap Inc.’s voting power. Unfortunately for Brown, he did not receive a large stake in Snap Inc., having signed away most of his shares to a third party not long after launching Snapchat.
Spiegel is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Snap Inc. and Murphy CTO, responsible for developing new products and improving existing products to maintain Snapchat’s lead in the social media market. Spiegel and Murphy now have a combined net worth of $3.3 billion and have become two of the world’s youngest billionaires.
Snap Inc. has also gone public, meaning anyone can own shares. Institutional investors such as Fidelity, Blackrock and Capital World Investors own a combined 20 percent of all Snap Inc. shares, while individual investors own the remaining 10 percent.
In conclusion, Snapchat is currently owned by the holding company Snap Inc., which was founded by Spiegel, Murphy, and Brown. Spiegel and Murphy, the majority owners of Snap Inc., have a combined 48.1 percent of voting power and a net worth of $3.3 billion, distinguishing them among the world’s youngest billionaires. Finally, institutional investors and individual investors own a combined 30 percent of Snap Inc. shares.