Evan Spiegel is an Internet entrepreneur who is best-known as the co-founder of the social media and technology company Snap Inc. which began as Snapchat Inc. He was born in Los Angeles on June 4, 1990, to parents who are both lawyers and grew up in Pacific Palisades, California. Siegel attended the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica. His entrepreneurial endeavors have led to him now having an approximate net worth of $3.7 billion and living in a $12 million house. Here are five more things you might not know about entrepreneur Evan Spiegel.
1. He Created Snapchat While at University
While he was studying at Stanford University, Evan Spiegel co-founded Snapchat Inc. with fellow students Reggie Brown and Bobbie Murphy. Spiegel decided to leave the university before completing his degree so that he could focus all his attention on the fledgling company.
2. He Had Many Jobs as a Student
Prior to starting university, Spiegel had an unpaid internship at Red Bull in the sales department. After he began his degree at Stanford University, Spiegel had a paid internship for a biomedical company. Other jobs he had while he was a student included an Intuit on the TxtWeb project and a careers instructor in Cape Town. With all these jobs and his studies to focus on, it is a wonder that Spiegel ever found the time to co-found his own company.
3. He is Married to Miranda Kerr
In 2014, while attending a Louis Vuitton dinner, Evan Spiegel met model Miranda Kerr. They began officially dating in the following year and then announced their engagement on July 20, 2016. A month prior to the engagement, Spiegel had bought a $12 million Los Angeles home that was the former residence of actor Harrison Ford. On May 27, 2017, Spiegel and Kerr were married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles.
4. He Has Pledged to Donate to Non-Profit Organizations
Between them, Spiegel and Murphy own 70% of the shares and 40% of the stock at Snap Inc. Despite their personal wealth, they have both pledged to donate over 13 million shares of Class A stock. They will give these to a non-profit organization that focuses on arts, education, and youth. They will donate these shares over the next 20 years.
5. He Hass Caused Controversy
Twice, Evan Spiegel has caused controversy that has become public knowledge. During his undergraduate years, Spiegel had written emails that were derogatory to women and these were made public on the Gawker blog ‘Valleywag’ in 2014. He has apologized for the content of the emails and said that they do not represent his views towards women and were a mistake from his youth. In 2015, a former employee was filing a lawsuit against Snap Inc. He made claims that Spiegel had said he wanted Snapchat to be only for rich people and wasn’t interested in making it available to poor countries, such as Spain and India. Spiegel has denied he ever made these comments and supported this by making it clear that the app is available anywhere in the world and is free to download.
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