FOR SETTING THE SOCIAL AGENDA
I WAS TOLD EVAN SPIEGEL WAS REALLY SICK. THE 29-YEAR-OLD CEO OF SNAP, SNAPCHAT’S PARENT COMPANY, WAS BATTLING A COLD OF MYTHICAL PROPORTIONS. HIS VOICE, I WAS TOLD, WOULD BARELY REGISTER ABOVE A WHISPER. ¶ WE’D BE MEETING ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE MAIN BUILDING OF SNAP’S SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, HEADQUARTERS, THE ENTIRETY OF WHICH IS ACTUALLY SPIEGEL’S OFFICE—A QUIET, ALMOST CATHEDRAL-LIKE SPACE WITH WOOD-PANELED WALLS, VAULTED CEILINGS, AND LIBERAL AMOUNTS OF NATURAL LIGHT THAT STANDS IN CONTRAST WITH THE LOW-PARTITION-CUBICLE STYLING OF THE TWO FLOORS BELOW.
This description will almost certainly be triggering for those who long ago concluded that they know who Spiegel is: the cocky L.A. rich kid turned imperial CEO—who famously turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2013 only to see Facebook co-opt his innovations—perched in his private aerie.
But the man who greets me on a sunny Thursday morning in late December is nothing like this caricature. Nor does he appear to be infirm. Throughout our conversation, his voice is strong, he’s smiling and quick to laugh, and his hair? Not the slightest bit of bed head. He’s grateful, thoughtful, self-critical, and, perhaps most of all, joyful.
Spiegel’s public image—like Snap’s—has been defined in many ways by his decision to spurn Zuckerberg. I ask if he can imagine what would have happened to Snapchat if he had sold it to Facebook?
“I mean … people come up and thank me. Like, random people. ‘Hey, thanks for not selling to Facebook,’” Spiegel says. “That’s bizarre, right? That’s super bizarre. But I think the world has changed a lot in the last seven or eight years.” The steady drumbeat of Facebook privacy scandals has tipped off more people to Snap’s prescience.
Snap’s ephemeral messaging and one-to-one communication protects user privacy. The company controls what content is published for public consumption, and long ago set up a team of fact checkers to ensure that material shared by users is true. Its augmented reality features lower users’ inhibitions, letting them be themselves and just have fun. Snap, in its
