The company behind Snapchat, a teen-oriented social network famous for its quickly disappearing messages, has filed for what could be one of the largest tech IPOs in years.
Snap Inc. said on Thursday that it's seeking up to $3 billion in an initial public offering, a figure that could shift based on investor demand. That demand will help determine the price per share sought by Snap in the upcoming weeks.
Snapchat has millions of users, and Snap has built a thriving ad business on it.
The fast-growing social network for the youngsters, boasts 158 million daily users.
Spiegel, 26, is poised to become a multi-billionaire, along with his former fraternity brother at Stanford, Robert Murphy, 28, who is a company co-founder.
Each man owns 227 million shares of Snap stock, which was valued at $30.72 per share nine months ago when the company raised $700 million from a group of investors, according to its IPO documents filed Thursday. If Snap can fetch the same price in its IPO, Spiegel and Murphy each will be worth $7 billion.
Snapchat could have died a quick death as a "sexting app," but Spiegel showed a knack for adapting to users' whims and demands, just as Facebook has over the years. This, as both companies have discovered, is key to outlasting social media fads. Snapchat is no longer just about disappearing messages.
Other than the Discover feature, they also added "Stories," which lets people create a narrative from messages, videos and photos from the past 24 hours. The concept’s popularity forced Instagram’s hand to dish out its version of Stories.
The latest from the labs at Snap is the circular-shaped glasses which comes with built-in camera that lets you Snapchat via the phone.
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