Snap Inc.

What does Snap Inc. own?
Snap Inc. owns Snapchat (the social media platform), Bitmoji (personalized avatar platform), Spectacles (AR glasses hardware), and the Snap AR/Lens Studio augmented reality development platform. Snapchat is the company's primary product, serving 453 million daily active users as of Q4 2024.

Is Snap Inc. publicly traded?
Yes, Snap Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol SNAP. The company has a dual-class share structure that concentrates voting control with co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, while economic ownership is distributed among public shareholders.

What is Snap's annual revenue?
In FY2024, Snap reported revenue of approximately $5.36 billion, a 16% increase from FY2023. The company generates revenue almost entirely through digital advertising on the Snapchat platform.

Who founded Snap Inc.?
Snap Inc. was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University. Brown was pushed out of the company in 2011 in a dispute over equity and later settled a lawsuit against Spiegel and Murphy. Spiegel serves as CEO and Murphy as CTO.

How many users does Snapchat have?
Snapchat reached 453 million daily active users (DAUs) in Q4 2024, up 9% year-over-year. The platform is particularly popular among teenagers and young adults in the United States, Europe, and other markets.

What is Bitmoji?
Bitmoji is a personalized avatar platform acquired by Snap in 2016. It allows users to create cartoon versions of themselves that can be used in Snapchat messages, on keyboards, and in other apps. Bitmoji has hundreds of millions of users and is one of the most widely used avatar platforms globally.

Snap Inc. was founded in 2011 by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University. The original concept, developed as a class project, was for a photo-sharing application where images would disappear after being viewed. The app was initially called Picaboo and launched in July 2011.

The app was relaunched as Snapchat in September 2011 after Brown was pushed out of the company in a dispute over equity. Spiegel and Murphy retained control of the company and continued developing the product. Snapchat's disappearing photo feature resonated with users, particularly teenagers, who appreciated the privacy and spontaneity of ephemeral messaging.

Snapchat grew rapidly through 2012 and 2013, attracting tens of millions of users. The company introduced Stories in October 2013, a feature that allowed users to compile photos and videos into a narrative that disappeared after 24 hours. Stories became one of the most influential social media innovations of the decade, subsequently copied by Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, LinkedIn, and many other platforms.

In November 2013, Facebook offered to acquire Snapchat for approximately $3 billion, an offer that Spiegel famously rejected. The decision was widely criticized at the time but proved prescient as Snapchat continued to grow and eventually went public at a much higher valuation.

Snap introduced Discover in January 2015, a section of the app featuring content from media publishers including CNN, ESPN, National Geographic, and others. Discover gave Snap a foothold in digital media distribution and provided a new advertising format for brands.

In 2016, Snap rebranded from Snapchat Inc. to Snap Inc. to reflect its ambition as a broader technology company beyond the Snapchat app. The same year, Snap launched Spectacles, sunglasses with a built-in camera that could record circular video clips and sync them to Snapchat. The first generation of Spectacles was sold through vending machines called Snapbots, generating significant media attention.

Snap went public on the NYSE in March 2017 in an IPO that raised approximately $3.4 billion, valuing the company at approximately $24 billion. The IPO was notable for Snap's decision to issue only non-voting shares to public investors, concentrating voting control with Spiegel and Murphy.

Following the IPO, Snap faced significant challenges. Instagram's introduction of Stories in August 2016 directly competed with Snapchat's core feature, slowing Snapchat's user growth. A controversial redesign of the Snapchat app in 2018 was poorly received by users and accelerated the slowdown. Snap's stock fell significantly from its IPO price during this period.

Snap recovered through 2020 and 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated social media usage and the company improved its advertising products. However, Apple's iOS privacy changes in 2021, which required apps to ask users for permission to track them across other apps, significantly disrupted Snap's advertising business by reducing the effectiveness of targeted advertising.

In FY2024, Snap reported revenue growth of 16% to approximately $5.36 billion, reflecting continued progress in rebuilding its advertising business and growing its user base to 453 million DAUs.

Snap has faced significant regulatory and public scrutiny related to child safety on Snapchat. In 2023, a coalition of state attorneys general filed lawsuits against Snap and other social media companies alleging that their platforms were designed to be addictive and caused harm to minors. Snap has also faced criticism for the use of its platform to distribute fentanyl and other drugs, with documented cases of teenagers dying after purchasing drugs through Snapchat.

Snap has responded by investing in safety features including age verification, parental controls through Family Center, and content moderation. The company has also faced scrutiny over the privacy implications of its data collection practices.

Reggie Brown, one of the original co-founders, sued Spiegel and Murphy in 2013 alleging that he was wrongfully pushed out of the company. The lawsuit was settled in 2014 for an undisclosed amount.