Evan Spiegel
Born 1990 · Age 35
American entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc., creator of Snapchat. Known for founding Snapchat as a Stanford class project, leading Snap through fundraises and IPO, philanthropy (Snap Foundation) and high-profile personal life (marriage to Miranda Kerr).
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Los Angeles, California
Evan Thomas Spiegel is born to lawyers John W. Spiegel and Melissa Ann Thomas in Los Angeles; raised in Pacific Palisades.
Unpaid internship in sales at Red Bull
While still in high school/early college, Spiegel interned in sales/promotions at Red Bull (worked as a promoter during youth).
Matriculated at Stanford University (Product Design)
Enrolled at Stanford University to study product design after taking design classes during high school.
Summer design classes at ArtCenter and Otis
Took design classes at Otis College of Art and Design and the Art Center College of Design prior to entering Stanford.
Joined Kappa Sigma fraternity at Stanford
Became a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity where he met future Snapchat co-founder Bobby Murphy and fraternity mate Reggie Brown.
Internships while a Stanford student
Worked as a paid intern for a biomedical company (Abraxis/BioScience), as a careers instructor in Cape Town and at Intuit on the TxtWeb project.
Proposed ephemeral-messaging app as class project
In April 2011 Spiegel proposed an app with ephemeral messaging for a Stanford product design class project — the seed of Snapchat.
Launched Picaboo prototype (early Snapchat)
Debuted the first prototype called 'Picaboo' in July 2011 (famously built/iterated in Spiegel's father's living room).
Rebranded Picaboo to Snapchat and ousted cofounder Reggie Brown
Picaboo was relaunched as Snapchat; Spiegel and Murphy removed Reggie Brown from the company operations, creating the two‑cofounder structure.
User growth milestones across 2012
Early 2012: grew from ~20,000 users (Jan) to 100,000 (Apr); by end of 2012 Snapchat reached 1 million daily active users and tens of millions of snaps/day.
Left Stanford to focus on Snapchat
Spiegel dropped out of Stanford in 2012 (a few classes shy of graduation) to work full-time on Snapchat.
Raised seed funding from Lightspeed Ventures (seed/bridge)
Received a $485,000 seed investment (Lightspeed Venture Partners provided seed and some bridge funding in 2012).
Android app released
Snapchat released on Android (Nov 29, 2012), expanding beyond iOS.
Snapchat usage growth reported
Snapchat disclosed sending ~60 million messages/day (Feb 2013) and later in 2013 figures grew to hundreds of millions of photo messages/day.
Rejected ~$3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook
In the fall of 2013 Mark Zuckerberg reportedly offered ~$3 billion to buy Snapchat; Spiegel and cofounders turned it down.
Snapkidz feature introduced
In June 2013 Snapchat introduced 'Snapkidz', a kids-only mode preventing messaging/sharing and saving content locally.
Reggie Brown files lawsuit claiming co-founder status
Reggie Brown sued Spiegel and Murphy claiming contribution to Snapchat's IP; litigation began in Feb 2013.
Snapchat 'Stories' introduced (product milestone)
Stories feature (compilations of Snaps lasting 24 hours) launched in 2013 and became a major engagement driver.
Raised $60M funding round led by IVP
June 2013 Snapchat raised $60 million in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners; Michael Lynton joined the board.
Snapchat usage peaks reported (2014 metrics)
By May 2014 Snapchat reported sending ~700 million photos and videos per day; Stories were viewed ~500 million times/day (company disclosed).
Time magazine: 100 Most Influential People (2014)
Named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the world in 2014.
Spiegel pictured receiving Crunchies trophy (public recognition)
Spiegel attended/took awards at tech events such as The Crunchies (photo dated Feb 10, 2014).
Leaked fraternity emails controversy
In May 2014 emails from Spiegel's fraternity days leaked to Gawker containing misogynistic and offensive remarks; Spiegel publicly apologized.
Settlement with Reggie Brown for $157.5M
In September 2014 Spiegel and Murphy agreed to settle Brown's claims for approximately $157.5 million.
Met Chinese president Xi Jinping as Berggruen 21st Century Council member
As part of the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council Spiegel met Xi Jinping in 2015 and became active in the council.
Recognized as the world's youngest billionaire
In 2015 Spiegel became the youngest billionaire in the world (Forbes recognition).
Discover and publisher channels established (product expansion)
Snapchat introduced publisher-curated Discover channels (major publishers like Hearst, Vice, etc. joined), expanding ad/product strategy.
Snap reported ~$400M revenue for 2016
Snap disclosed revenue in 2016 of more than $400 million (yearly revenue disclosure prior to IPO).
Purchased $12M Brentwood home (previously owned by Harrison Ford)
Bought a 7,164 sq ft property in Brentwood for about $12 million shortly before engagement to Miranda Kerr.
Engaged to Miranda Kerr
Miranda Kerr announced engagement to Evan Spiegel on July 20, 2016.
Company rebrands to Snap Inc.; launches Spectacles
Snapchat's parent company rebranded as Snap Inc. (Sept 2016) and released camera-equipped 'Spectacles' in September 2016.
Time magazine: 100 Most Influential People (2017)
Named again to Time's 100 Most Influential People list in 2017.
Spiegel's public speaking at major tech conferences
Spiegel spoke at major industry conferences (e.g., TechCrunch Disrupt, Code Conference, AWE in later years) as CEO and public face of Snap.
Became one of the youngest public-company CEOs
After Snap's March 2017 IPO Spiegel (age 26) became one of the youngest CEOs of a large public U.S. company.
Pre-IPO ownership and voting power report
The Wall Street Journal reported founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy would hold over 70% of voting power and around 45% of total stock after the planned IPO.
Created Snap Foundation; pledged 13 million Class A shares
Spiegel and cofounder Bobby Murphy announced the Snap Foundation and pledged up to 13,000,000 shares of Class A stock over 15–20 years for arts, education and youth programs.
Snap Inc. IPO — company goes public
Snap Inc. priced and completed its initial public offering in March 2017; IPO raised roughly $3.4 billion with first-day close near $24.48 and valuation around $24 billion.
Married Miranda Kerr (private ceremony)
Spiegel and Miranda Kerr married in a private ceremony in Los Angeles on May 27, 2017.
Became a French citizen
In 2018 Spiegel (and his son Hart) received French citizenship through a naturalization clause for contributors to French culture/economy.
Completes Stanford degree (graduates)
After leaving in 2012, Spiegel completed remaining credits and graduated from Stanford University in 2018.
Spectacles sales shortfall and inventory write-downs
By May 2018 Snap had sold about 220,000 pairs of Spectacles and reportedly recorded ~$40M in unsold-product losses.
Birth of son Hart Spiegel
Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel welcomed their first son, Hart, in May 2018.
Reported userbase and marketing position (platform milestone)
Snapchat remained a major youth-marketing platform; BoF and others reported daily active users in the low hundreds of millions (commonly cited ~150M DAU during this period).
Snap's valuation reported around $20B–$24B (period summaries)
Various reports across 2016–2019 cited Snap's valuation in the ~$20–24 billion range (pre/post-IPO market variations).
COVID-19 philanthropic donation
During the COVID-19 pandemic Spiegel and Snap donated about $3 million to people affected by the pandemic.
Forbes ranking: #55 on the Forbes 400 with ~$13.8B
In 2021 Forbes listed Spiegel at #55 on the Forbes 400 with an estimated net worth of about $13.8 billion.
Joined Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) board of directors
In 2021 Spiegel was named an independent director on the board of investment management company KKR.
Donated $20 million to Stockton Scholars
Spiegel gave $20 million to Stockton Scholars (scholarship program in Stockton, California) — donation referenced in charity coverage in 2022.
Paid off Otis College graduating class student debt
At the Otis College of Art and Design commencement in 2022 Spiegel and Miranda Kerr announced they would pay off student loans for that graduating class.
Joined board of directors for Gagosian Gallery
In November 2022 Spiegel was appointed to the board of directors of the Gagosian Gallery.
Reported birth of a later child (media coverage)
Media (Marie Claire) reported Miranda Kerr gave birth to another child in Feb 2024; Wikipedia later summarized family as three sons with Spiegel and a stepson.
Forbes net worth update: $2.5B (Aug 2025)
As of August 2025 Forbes estimated Evan Spiegel's personal net worth at $2.5 billion.
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