Wikipedia

Evan Spiegel

Evan Thomas Spiegel(born June 4, 1990)[1]is anAmerican-Frenchbusinessman, co-founder and CEO ofSnap Inc.Spiegel was the youngest billionaire in the world in 2015.[2]As of August 2024,he had a personal net worth of $2.6 billion according toForbes.[3]

Evan Spiegel
Spiegel in 2013
Born
Evan Thomas Spiegel

(1990-06-04)June 4, 1990(age 34)[1]
Los Angeles, California
Citizenship
  • American
  • French
EducationStanford University(BS)
OccupationEntrepreneur
Known forCo-founder and CEO ofSnap Inc.
Spouse
​
(m.2017)​
Children3 children, 1 stepchild

Early life and education

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Evan Thomas Spiegel was born inLos Angeles,California,to lawyers John W. Spiegel and Melissa Ann Thomas.[4]He grew up inPacific Palisades, California,where he was raisedEpiscopalian.[5]He was educated at theCrossroads School for Arts and SciencesinSanta Monica,and attendedStanford University.[1]

Spiegel took design classes at theOtis College of Art and Designwhile still in high school and at theArt Center College of DesigninPasadenathe summer before entering Stanford.[1]He also had an unpaidinternshipin sales atRed Bull.[1]While a student, he worked as a paid intern for a biomedical company, as a careers instructor inCape Town,South Africa, and atIntuiton theTxtWebproject.[1]Spiegel is a member ofKappa Sigmafraternity.[6]

Career

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Spiegel at the 7th Annual Crunchies Awards on February 10th, 2014 in San Francisco.

In April 2011, Spiegel proposed an app with ephemeral messaging as a product design class project.[7]Later that year, Spiegel worked with fellow Stanford classmatesBobby Murphyand Reggie Brown to launch a prototype of this concept called "Picaboo", which they later renamed as Snapchat.[8][9]The app's popularity grew significantly and in 2012, Spiegel left Stanford to focus onSnapchatshortly before completing his degree.[1][10]By the end of 2012, Spiegel's Snapchat app had reached 1 million daily active users.[8]He later completed his remaining credits and graduated in 2018.[11][12]

Spiegel speaking at theTechCrunch Disruptconference

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. They have created the Snap Foundation which is a non-profit organization.[13][14]Their mission is to "develop pathways to the creative economy for underrepresented youths in Los Angeles." During the COVID-19 pandemic, they donated $3 million to people affected by the pandemic.[15][13][14]In January 2017The Wall Street Journalreported that after the predicted March 2017initial public offeringfor Snap Inc., Murphy and Evan Spiegel would hold over "70% of the voting power" in the company, and own around 45% of the total stock.[16]

Spiegel joined the board of directors of investment management companyKohlberg Kravis Robertsin 2021.[17]

Personal life

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Spiegel began dating Australian modelMiranda Kerrin 2015.[18][19]They became engaged on July 20, 2016.[20][21]They married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on May 27, 2017.[22]Just a month before Spiegel's engagement to Kerr, he purchased a 7,164 square foot, $12 million house that was previously owned byHarrison Ford.[23]Spiegel has three sons with Kerr and a stepson from Kerr's previous marriage toOrlando Bloom.[24][25][26][27]

As of 2021, Spiegel was ranked number 55 on theForbes400with $13.8 billion in wealth.[28]

In 2017, Spiegel became one of the youngest public company CEOs at age 26 when Snap began trading in March.[29]Spiegel is also a member of theBerggruen Institute's 21st Century Council and its board of directors.[30][31][32]

AFrancophile,Spiegel learned French. In 2018, he and his son Hart receivedFrench citizenshipthrough a clause in the naturalization laws that waives French residency requirements for applicants that contribute to the French culture or economy.[33]In November 2022 he joined the board of directors forGagosian Gallery.[34]

Charity

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In the same year, he gave $20 million to Stockton Scholars, a scholarship program inStockton, California.[35]

In 2022, at theOtis College of Art and Designcommencement, Spiegel announced that he and Miranda Kerr would pay off the 2022 graduating class student's debt.[36]

Controversy

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In 2014, emails sent by Spiegel during his time at Stanford were leaked toGawker.The emails includedmisogynisticandhomophobiccomments and openly encouraged getting women heavily drunk in an attempt to convince them to have sex. The emails included comments about getting his friends laid by wasted "sororisluts", and shooting lasers at "fat girls". He was also encouraging underage drinking.[37][38][39][40]

Spiegel issued a statement responding to the controversy 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 jerk to have written them. They in no way reflect who I am today or my views towards women."[41]

References

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  1. ^abcdefgVan Grove, Jennifer (November 26, 2013)."Snapchat's Evan Spiegel: Saying no to $3B, and feeling lucky".CNET.Archivedfrom the original on December 7, 2013.RetrievedDecember 10,2013.
  2. ^Robehmed, Natalie."The World's Youngest Billionaires 2015: 46 Under 40".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on September 24, 2017.RetrievedSeptember 19,2017.
  3. ^ "Evan Spiegel".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on August 3, 2024.RetrievedAugust 3,2024.
  4. ^"StartupBook » Curated News and Advice for Entrepreneurs » 24-Year Old Snapchat Co-Founder Probably Threw The Best Parties Ever In High School".StartupBook.Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 22,2014.
  5. ^Maddaus, Gene (October 17, 2013)."Snapchat Went From Frat Boy Dream to Tech World Darling. But Will it Last?".LA Weekly.Archivedfrom the original on October 4, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.John Spiegel strove to make sure his children understood that their life was privileged. Every Christmas, he would take them to hand out food at Head Start centers. Through their church, All Saints Episcopal in Beverly Hills, they traveled to Mexico to build houses for the poor.
  6. ^"5 Facts About Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's Often Controversial Co-Founder".Entrepreneur.July 9, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on May 15, 2016.RetrievedJune 3,2016.
  7. ^Colao, J.J. (November 27, 2012)."Snapchat: The Biggest No-Revenue Mobile App Since Instagram".Forbes.Archivedfrom the original on November 28, 2015.RetrievedDecember 31,2015.
  8. ^ab"Snapchat: An Abridged History".Fortune.Archivedfrom the original on August 25, 2018.RetrievedAugust 24,2018.
  9. ^MacMillan, Douglas (November 20, 2013)."Snapchat CEO: 70% of Users Are Women".The Wall Street Journal.Archivedfrom the original on December 27, 2015.RetrievedDecember 31,2015.
  10. ^Matthews, Natalie (November 14, 2013)."Finally, a Tech CEO With Style: A Closer Look at Snapchat's Evan Spiegel".Elle.Archivedfrom the original on January 3, 2015.RetrievedDecember 10,2013.
  11. ^Clifford, Catherine (July 15, 2020)."Pro-UBI Mayor Michael Tubbs lived across the hall from Evan Spiegel in college: 'While I was campaigning for city council, he was building Snap'".CNBC.
  12. ^"Forbes Profile: Evan Spiegel".Forbes.Archived fromthe originalon July 28, 2022.RetrievedAugust 26,2022.
  13. ^abTaylor, Harriet (February 2, 2017)."Snap co-founders create Snap Foundation to support non-profits".CNBC.Archivedfrom the original on February 25, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 24,2017.
  14. ^abVelazco, Chris (February 2, 2017)."Snap Inc, Quietley created A Foundation to support arts and education".engadget.Rochester, New York.Archivedfrom the original on March 3, 2017.RetrievedMarch 3,2017.
  15. ^"Snap Foundation".snapfoundation.org.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2020.RetrievedSeptember 3,2020.
  16. ^Farrell, Maureen (January 20, 2017),Snapchat Parent Plans to Pay Banks 2.5% of IPO Proceeds,New York: The Wall Street Journal,archivedfrom the original on January 21, 2017,retrievedJanuary 22,2017
  17. ^Karsh, Melissa (October 6, 2021)."KKR Names Snap's Evan Spiegel as Independent Director".Bloomberg News.Archivedfrom the original on June 3, 2024.
  18. ^"Miranda Kerr introduces beau to parents".Thespec.August 15, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on December 17, 2015.RetrievedDecember 31,2015.
  19. ^"Miranda Kerr introduces boyfriend to her parents – The West Australian".Yahoo! News. August 17, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on December 8, 2015.RetrievedDecember 31,2015.
  20. ^Christie D'Zurilla,Model Miranda Kerr engaged to Snapchat co-founder Evan SpiegelArchivedJune 27, 2018, at theWayback Machine,Los Angeles Times,July 20, 2016.
  21. ^Biz Carson,Meet LA's newest power couple: Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and supermodel Miranda Kerr profileArchivedJuly 23, 2016, at theWayback Machine,Business Insider,July 20, 2016.
  22. ^Desantis, Rachel (May 28, 2017)."Miranda Kerr weds Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel".Daily News.New York.Archivedfrom the original on May 28, 2017.RetrievedMay 28,2017.
  23. ^Green, Dennis (May 10, 2016)."Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and model Miranda Kerr just bought a $12 million home together".Business Insider.Archivedfrom the original on October 26, 2017.RetrievedSeptember 19,2017.
  24. ^"Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel Welcome 'Beautiful' Son Hart: 'Words Cannot Explain How Happy We Are'"ArchivedJuly 31, 2018, at theWayback Machine.People.May 7, 2018.
  25. ^"Miranda Kerr Gives Birth to Baby No. 2!"ArchivedMarch 30, 2019, at theWayback Machine.Yahoo!.May 9, 2018.
  26. ^Jensen, Erin."Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel welcome baby boy Myles: 'We are overjoyed'".USA Today.Archivedfrom the original on June 4, 2020.RetrievedApril 24,2020.
  27. ^"Miranda Kerr Gives Birth To Her Fourth Baby".Marie Claire. February 27, 2024.RetrievedFebruary 27,2024.
  28. ^Forbes 400 2021: YoungestArchivedNovember 4, 2021, at theWayback MachineForbes.Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  29. ^Forbes 400 2017: YoungestArchivedOctober 7, 2019, at theWayback MachineForbes.Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  30. ^"Berggruen Institute".Archived fromthe originalon January 6, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 12,2017.
  31. ^Gardels, Nathan (November 5, 2015)."China's New Five-Year Plan Embraces the Third Industrial Revolution".HuffPost.Archivedfrom the original on July 21, 2020.RetrievedMay 12,2020.
  32. ^Benner, Katie."Snap's Chief Taps Into the 'Right Now'"ArchivedFebruary 2, 2017, at theWayback Machine,The 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.'"
  33. ^Moutot, Anaïs (December 16, 2019)."EXCLUSIF Comment le PDG de Snapchat est devenu Français".Les Echos(in French).Archivedfrom the original on December 16, 2019.RetrievedDecember 16,2019.
  34. ^"Larry Gagosian Announces the Formation of a Board of Directors".Gagosian.November 16, 2022.RetrievedMarch 7,2023.
  35. ^"Should Philanthropy Fund Government? A $400 Million Gift Settles That Question in Kalamazoo, Mich., for Years to Come".The Chronicle of Philanthropy.RetrievedAugust 9,2021.
  36. ^Treisman, Rachel (May 17, 2022)."Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Miranda Kerr paid off art school graduates' student loans".NPR.RetrievedMay 18,2022.
  37. ^Biddle, Sam (May 28, 2014).""Fuck Bitches Get Leid, "the Sleazy Frat Emails of Snapchat's CEO".Gawker.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2020.RetrievedAugust 9,2020.
  38. ^"Confirmed: Snapchat's Evan Spiegel Is Kind Of An Ass".TechCrunch.May 28, 2014.RetrievedAugust 9,2020.
  39. ^Manning, Ben Grubb and James W. (May 29, 2014)."Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel 'mortified and embarrassed' by sexist, derogatory emails".The Sydney Morning Herald.Archivedfrom the original on October 2, 2019.RetrievedAugust 9,2020.
  40. ^"Evan Spiegel's Leaked Fraternity Emails Prove He's Actually Even Worse Than You Thought".Bustle.May 28, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on August 14, 2020.RetrievedAugust 9,2020.
  41. ^"Confirmed: Snapchat's Evan Spiegel Is Kind Of An Ass".TechCrunch.May 28, 2014.RetrievedAugust 25,2021.
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