Who Owns Snapchat? (Full Guide)

Do you love using social media apps? 

Many people dream of designing and launching an app that will make them rich. However, most of us lack the skills and determination to make that happen. It is no secret that Snapchat has risen to become one of the most popular social media apps around. The picture-sharing app was launched just a decade ago and is used by people all over the world. 

But, if you’ve been wondering… Who Owns Snapchat? Then it’s time to find out!

History Of The Company 

The Snapchat app was created by Reggie Brown, Evan Spiegel, and Bobby Murphy. These three Stanford students came up with the concept for the app while they were still in college. 

Reggie Brown had the idea of creating an app to share photos that would disappear after a certain amount of time. He shared the idea with Evan Spiegel, who was his roommate at the time. 

Spiegel handles the public relations…

Evan Spiegel was a product design major and came up with the instantly recognizable bright yellow format. The two students later enlisted Bobby Murphy to help them with his coding expertise. The three students quickly realized that they had an innovative and potentially successful prototype. 

In 2011, Spiegel dropped out of Stanford to focus his attention on Snapchat. Once Snap Inc. was founded, he began running the company. Today, Spiegel usually acts as the face of the company and does a lot of public relations work. 

What is Snapchat?

The founders recognized the desire for social media users to send temporary messages and photos. The app also features special stories. Users can post videos or photos that are available for 24 hours. Filters were launched in 2015, which helped to take the app to the next level. Although the app reportedly crashed in 2021, the issues have been resolved, and it is still going strong. 

Ownership

The instant photo and video messaging app is owned by Snap Inc. This parent company was founded before the success of the app on the public and global markets. Today, Snapchat is owned by founding partners Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. 

Evan Spiegel

In addition to being one of the three founders of the app, Evan Spiegel is the CEO of Snap Inc. Spiegel currently owns 48% of the company. He became the youngest billionaire in the world and has a reported net worth of $10.2 billion. 

Bobby Murphy

This founding member serves as the Chief Technology Officer of Snap Inc. Murphy owns 47% of the company and is also a self-made billionaire. He is reported to have a net worth of $10.9 billion. 

Reggie Brown

The third founding partner originally served as the Chief Marketing Officer of the company. However, Brown eventually left the company in 2013 and disappeared from the public eye. He was reportedly paid $157.5 million for his share in the partnership. 

Public stockholders

Although Murphy and Spiegel collectively own 95% of the company, their shares do not give them voting rights. The majority of shares are owned by public stockholders. When Spiegel and Murphy want to propose major changes to the company, the public stockholders have the deciding vote. 

Facebook Attempted Ownership

Many people believe that Facebook owns Snapchat. While the company has tried to purchase the social media app many times, it has been unsuccessful. These days, the majority of Facebook users are 35 or older. The company has attempted to purchase the youthful app to broaden its demographic.

In 2013, Facebook offered the owners of Snap Inc. $3 billion for the company. Around the same time, Facebook put in a bid to purchase Twitter. While both of these bids were unsuccessful, Facebook did manage to purchase Instagram. This is one of Snap Inc.’s main competitors and has helped rejuvenate Facebook to a certain extent. 

Google Attempted Ownership

Like Facebook, Google has had its sights set on owning the company. Google offered the owners an impressive $30 billion for the privilege in 2016. While this bid became public knowledge, Evan Spiegel rejected it, saying that he wanted the company to remain independent. 

This attention from Google led the share prices of Snap Inc. to rise by 2.3%. Instead of taking over Snap Inc., Google decided to invest in the company through CapitalG. This has allowed Snap Inc. to offer more features through the app while remaining independent. 

The Popularity Of The App

The app has risen to become one of the most popular photo and video-sharing apps in the world. It allows users to post content without it being available forever. This encourages users to take fun and imperfect images that capture the moment.

The goal of the app is to let users share realistic insights into their life. The temporary nature of the shared images takes away the concern over imperfection. It offers users a good way to connect instantly and let their boundaries down a little.

They don’t want to be like Instagram…

This, in turn, allows users to be completely themselves and be a little goofy. Rather than the perfectly filtered images on Instagram, these photos tend to be a lot more spontaneous. Users do not feel the same pressure to be perfect and curate their videos and images. 

Spiegel has been clear from the start that he wanted users to show the full range of human emotion. Because images are temporary, there is little risk of them resurfacing in internet searches. Images are also given a certain level of secrecy that appeals to many users.

Growing with the times!

When it was first launched, the app was particularly popular among grade school students. It was possible for people who didn’t have a phone to use the app. The numerous fun features that have been released over the years have helped popularity to grow considerably. 

Snap Inc. Products

The parent company boasts four main products, each of which yields a high revenue stream. While the company is best known for the Snapchat app, it also owns Snapchat Spectacles, Zenly, and Bitmoji. 

Snapchat Spectacles 

These fun wearable camera spectacles can be used to record and share videos. Snapchat users can connect their smart glasses to their accounts and capture videos in casual settings. The product was launched in 2017 and proved to be an instant hit. Numerous styles have been created, and they are now available in more than twenty countries around the world. 

Zenly

Snap Inc. purchased this social media app in 2017. Zenly is an innovative mapping network that uses a 3D camera and video game technology to create an interactive world. Users can connect with their friends on their app and explore their worlds in real time. 

While each user has their own personal map, they can invite their friends to join it. This provides family members and friends located in different parts of the world to connect uniquely. Users can also view their maps to see where they have been and view the highlights of their journeys. 

Bitmoji

This popular app allows users to create vibrant cartoon images of themselves. These personalized cartoon images can then be shared on different social media platforms. Once the image has been created, it can be used to interact on different messaging platforms. 

After creating an account, Bitmoji users can have fun customizing their avatars. The wide range of options makes it possible to create a very realistic-looking cartoon character. Snap Inc. bought Bitmoji for a little over $100 million back in 2016. 

Fun Facts

The app has evolved from a private video and photo-sharing platform to a more public-minded ethos. While the company has changed considerably over the years, the most popular features have remained the same.

 Here are some tasty facts to sink your teeth into:

More Apps And Their Owners!

A few more well-known apps that you might be wondering about include Who Owns Twitter, or for the property market, Who Owns Zillow, as well as Who Owns Cash App, and Who Owns Mint Mobile, which might come as a surprise!

Furthermore, if you love your movies, we also cover Who Owns Dreamworks and Who Owns Netflix, and of course, the sports fans will want to find out Who Owns ESPN or even Who Owns Fox News in 2023.

Lastly, why not take a look at Who Owns Wayfair, Who Owns Zelle, or how about Who Owns Dr. Pepper, Who Owns Hershey, and Who Owns Popeyes, and finally, check out Who Owns Subaru, and Who Owns The Jordan Brand.

Final Thoughts

Snapchat has come a long way since the app and company were founded in 2011. It is estimated that the company is worth more than $88 billion. While some of this revenue comes from other products, the majority of it comes from the app.

Although many large companies have tried to buy out the owners over the years, they have been unsuccessful. Today, more than 280 million people use the app to share photos daily. Around 38% of users are located in the United States.

Enjoy using Snapchat to share your posts!