Evan Spiegel
Spiegel in November 2013
Born
Evan Thomas Spiegel

(1990-06-04) June 4, 1990 (age 34)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationCrossroads School for Arts and Sciences
Alma materStanford University
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forCo-founder of Snap Inc.
TitleCEO of Snap Inc.
Spouse
​
(m. 2017)​

Evan Thomas Spiegel[2] (born June 4, 1990)[2] is an American Internet entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of the American multinational technology and social media company Snap Inc., which he created (as Snapchat Inc.) with Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University.

Early life and education

Evan was born in Los Angeles, California, to Melissa Ann Thomas and John W. Spiegel, both lawyers.[3] Spiegel grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, where he was raised Episcopalian.[4] He was educated at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, and attended Stanford University.[2]

Spiegel took design classes at the Otis College of Art and Design while still in high school and at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena the summer before entering Stanford.[2] He also had an unpaid internship in sales at Red Bull.[2] While a student, he worked as a paid intern for a biomedical company, as a careers instructor in Cape Town, South Africa, and at Intuit on the TxtWeb project.[2] Spiegel was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.[5]

Career

In 2012, Evan left Stanford to focus on Snapchat shortly before completing his degree.[2][6] While studying product design at Stanford[7] he proposed Snapchat as a class project.[8] Spiegel co-founded the mobile application Snapchat along with Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown. He is the Founder and CEO of Snap, Inc.[9]

The Wall Street Journal has reported that after the predicted March 2017 IPO for Snap Inc., Murphy and Spiegel would hold over "70% of the voting power" in the company, and own around 45% of the total stock.[10]

In February 2017, Spiegel and Murphy pledged to donate upwards of 13,000,000 shares of Class A common stock over the next 15–20 years to an arts, education and youth non-profit.[11][12]

Controversy

In May 2014, Valleywag, a Gawker blog, released a set of emails written by Spiegel during his undergraduate career to fraternity members.[13] Spiegel later apologized for his actions and attitude towards women at the time the emails were sent, stating, "I'm obviously mortified and embarrassed that my idiotic emails during my fraternity days were made public. I have no excuse. I'm sorry I wrote them at the time and I was a jerk to have written them. They in no way reflect who I am today or my views towards women."[14]

According to former Snapchat employee Anthony Pompliano in a lawsuit filed against Snap Inc., Spiegel made a statement in 2015 that Snapchat is "only for rich people" and that he does not "want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain."[15][16] Spiegel decried Pompliano's comments and elaborated, "Obviously Snapchat is for everyone. It’s available worldwide to download for free".[17]

Personal life

Spiegel began dating model Miranda Kerr in 2015.[18][19] The two first met each other at a Louis Vuitton dinner in New York in 2014.[20] They became engaged on July 20, 2016.[21][22] They married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on May 27, 2017.[23]

As of 2016, Spiegel was ranked #854 on the Forbes 400 with $4 billion in wealth.[24] Spiegel is also a member of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council.[25][26][27]

References

  1. ^ "Evan Spiegel profile". Forbes. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Van Grove, Jennifer (November 26, 2013). "Snapchat's Evan Spiegel: Saying no to $3B, and feeling lucky". CNET.
  3. ^ "StartupBook » Curated News and Advice for Entrepreneurs » 24-Year Old Snapchat Co-Founder Probably Threw The Best Parties Ever In High School". StartupBook.
  4. ^ Gene Maddaus. "Snapchat Went From Frat Boy Dream to Tech World Darling. But Will it Last?". L.A. Weekly.
  5. ^ "5 Facts About Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's Often Controversial Co-Founder". Entrepreneur.com. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  6. ^ Matthews, Natalie (November 14, 2013). "Finally, a Tech CEO With Style: A Closer Look at Snapchat's Evan Spiegel". Elle.
  7. ^ "Evan Spiegel". CrunchBase. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  8. ^ Colao, J.J. (November 27, 2012). "Snapchat: The Biggest No-Revenue Mobile App Since Instagram". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  9. ^ MacMillan, Douglas (November 20, 2013). "Snapchat CEO: 70% of Users Are Women". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  10. ^ Farrell, Maureen (January 20, 2017), Snapchat Parent Plans to Pay Banks 2.5% of IPO Proceeds, New York: The Wall Street Journal, retrieved January 22, 2017
  11. ^ Taylor, Harriet (2017-02-02). "Snap co-founders create Snap Foundation to support non-profits". CNBC. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  12. ^ Velazco, Chris (February 2, 2017). "Snap Inc, Quietley created A Foundation to support arts and education". engadget. Rochester, New York. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  13. ^ Biddle, Sam (May 28, 2014). ""Fuck Bitches Get Leid", the Sleazy Frat Emails of Snapchat's CEO". Valleywag. Archived from the original on 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2015-12-31. ((cite news)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ Chang, Andrea (May 28, 2013). "Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel 'mortified' by leaked frat emails". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  15. ^ Abraham, Bobins (April 15, 2017). "'India Is Too Poor, This App Is For The Rich People', Feels Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel". Indiatimes. Retrieved April 15, 2017. ((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  16. ^ Maddaus, Gene (2017-04-11). "Snapchat CEO Said 'This App Is Only for Rich People,' Ex-Employee Alleges". Variety. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  17. ^ Safi, Michael (April 17, 2017). "Snapchat denies claim CEO did not want to expand into 'poor India'". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  18. ^ "Miranda Kerr introduces beau to parents". Thespec.com. 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  19. ^ "Miranda Kerr introduces boyfriend to her parents – The West Australian". Au.news.yahoo.com. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  20. ^ "Snaps And Chats By Evan Spiegel". Eyerys.com. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  21. ^ Christie D'Zurilla, Model Miranda Kerr engaged to Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel, Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2016.
  22. ^ Biz Carson, Meet LA's newest power couple: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and supermodel Miranda Kerr profile, Business Insider, July 20, 2016.
  23. ^ Desantis, Rachel (May 28, 2017). "Miranda Kerr weds Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  24. ^ Forbes 400 2016: Youngest Forbes.com, Retrieved December 20, 2016
  25. ^ "Berggruen Institute".
  26. ^ "The WorldPost".
  27. ^ Benner, Katie. "Snap's Chief Taps Into the 'Right Now'", New York Times, February 1, 2017. "Mr. Spiegel has also involved himself in some political conversations. In 2015, he met with China’s president, Xi Jinping, as a member of the 21st Century Council at the Berggruen Institute. Its founder, Nicolas Berggruen, said he impressed a group that includes Mohamed El-Erian, the economist, and former President Nicolas Sarkozy of France with his 'thoughtful and mature approach to people.'"
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