Snapchat has operated at a loss for virtually its entire existence. Today, though, it made its two twenty-something co-founders billionaires with the ring of a bell.
Snap Inc filed for the IPO at the beginning of February, with the company’s estimated value being $20-25 billion. The opening price rose from $17 to $24 this morning, making it the largest public offering for a tech in years.
According to CNBC, co-founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy each made $384 million from the sale of their shares.
Snap’s current estimated price of $24 billion puts it above Twitter ($11 billion) but far, far short of Facebook ($395 billion), NPR reports.
Rumors about Snap’s IPO have been swirling for months, causing a stir both for the company and the public. Ahead of the filing, Snapchat revealed a major redesign which would increase its userbase. Potential investors also bought up shares in an unrelated Snap company in a case of mistaken identity.
In the meantime, Snap’s growth as a company had stalled thanks to the rise of Snapchat-like features from competitors Instagram and Whatsapp. An ex-employee also recently accused the company of faking positive stats to inflate its value, throwing its current estimated price into question.
The news today is good, but who knows how long Snap’s success story will last?
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