This is a well-known American businessman, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. Evan Spiegel became the youngest billionaire in 2015; he was 25 years old at the time. More about the famous figure from Los Angeles and his achievements will be told by la-future.
Youth
Evan Spiegel was born in Los Angeles into a family of lawyers. He is the oldest child in the family. He grew up in the Pacific Palisades area, which was approximately 32 kilometers west of downtown Los Angeles. The young man attended the Episcopal Church, known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the USA. Evan Spiegel was educated at a private and independent college preparatory school in Santa Monica – the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences. Evan Spiegel grew up in a family where both parents practiced law, but he was most interested in technology. In 6th grade, while studying at the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, he assembled his first computer.
While still in high school, the young man attended design courses at the Otis College of Art and Design, which is located in Los Angeles. This school was the first professional institution of its kind in the city. Before entering a higher education institution in the summer, Evan Spiegel attended the ArtCenter College of Design.
Stanford University
Then he entered the private research Stanford University. This is his father’s Alma Mater. It is interesting that he specialized in product design and gained practical experience during an internship in the sales department of Red Bull. Subsequently, he worked at Intuit, a software development company.
Evan Spiegel is a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Already in his second year of study, he moved to the fraternity house. It was there that he met his future business partners: Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown. Together they developed the initial idea for Snapchat.
Subsequently, he dropped out of school because he wanted to focus on the social media application and start his own business. Six years later, Evan Spiegel still graduated from Stanford University, this happened in 2018. He received a bachelor’s degree in product design.
Snap Inc.
Evan Spiegel founded the company together with Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown in July 2011. Initially, it was a company called Picaboo, but another company complained about the application because of the same name. Reggie Brown was kicked out of the company, and Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy relaunched the business in September 2011 under the name Snapchat.
Evan Spiegel holds the position of CEO, and Murphy is the Chief Technology Officer. The company is known for its signature yellow ghost logo, 24-hour photo expiration scale, and special geofilters.
Snapchat is an application created so that users are not afraid to express themselves and live in the present moment, get to know the world and have fun together. The company’s website states that this application is the easiest way to convey the entire spectrum of human emotions. At the same time, you do not have to worry about the pressure of popularity, beauty, or perfection.
The Snap camera supports friendship through visual communication, self-expression, and storytelling.
Public Company and Stock Quotes
In March 2017, Evan Spiegel made the company public. He launched stock quotes on the New York Stock Exchange, with the value of one share costing 24 dollars.
It is worth noting that Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy own approximately a quarter of the company but have voting shares. This gives them control over the Board of Directors. According to Forbes, every day approximately 432 million people use Snapchat to send friends photos and videos with disappearing pages. In 2023, the company received revenue of 4.6 billion dollars, and the number of monthly users exceeds 850 million people.
Snap Inc.: Review of Important Events
- Snap Investor Day. This is an annual event where the company presents its strategy, financial performance, and shares plans for investors, analysts, and financial journalists.
- Snap Lens Festival – an annual event dedicated to Snapchat lenses and filters. At the festival, the company honors the best creators who are engaged in creating unique AR effects (that change the perception of reality).
- Snap Partner Summit 2024. At this event, the company presents new opportunities and tools for creators, developers, and brands. For example, it’s about opportunities for commercial use of the platform. Tools were announced that make it easier to create content and interact with the audience, as well as the latest technologies in the field of AI.
Personal life
Supermodel Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel were first seen together in Los Angeles in June 2015; they met in 2014 at a Louis Vuitton dinner at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. They were sitting next to each other. Evan Spiegel later said that he immediately liked the charming woman, but he was convinced that there were no chances. He left her his phone number, and she was moving into a new house. At that time, Miranda Kerr was already divorced and did not believe in love.
The romantic relationship developed slowly, because at first they became friends, and only then a couple. In 2016, they got engaged. In the summer of 2017, the lovers got married, the ceremony was intimate and took place in the backyard of Evan’s house in Los Angeles. The couple gave vows in front of approximately 30 guests. The couple’s wedding can hardly be called traditional, because their day began with a joint yoga session, and they refused a wedding party. Instead, the former Victoria’s Secret supermodel prepared her husband’s favorite dish – baked chicken with turmeric and lemon. The catering repeated the menu for other guests.
Raising children
The couple is raising four sons: Flynn (Miranda Kerr’s son from her first marriage to Orlando Bloom), Hart, Myles, Pierre.
Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr can be periodically seen together on the red carpet, but for the most part they stay in the shadows. In one of the interviews, the couple said that they prioritize quality time with each other and their family. They also shared that they do yoga and meditation. The whole family goes for walks, cooks, uses the infrared sauna and sincerely enjoys each other’s company.
Charity
In 2017, Evan and Miranda founded the Spiegel Family Fund, which supports organizations that promote human progress. Its main mission is to contribute to art, education, and human rights in Los Angeles.
Evan Spiegel donated company shares worth more than 280 million dollars. In addition, together with Bobby Murphy, they pledged to donate 13 million shares to the Snap Foundation youth fund.
In 2020, Evan Spiegel made a significant donation to Stanford University to create a permanent source of funding for the Center for Services for African American Communities and the Ujamaa House (focuses on the history, issues, and culture of the African American diaspora).
In 2022, Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr received honorary doctoral degrees at the graduation ceremony of Otis College of Art and Design graduates. In May of the same year, the couple made a significant donation to the institution to pay off the student debt of the graduating class. Subsequently, the couple noted that it was a real privilege for their couple to help and support the 2022 graduating class.