Early Life
Evan Thomas Spiegel was born in Los Angeles, California, on June 4, 1990. He grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, and attended the Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica. His parents, John W. Spiegel and Melissa Ann Thomas, were both lawyers. During his high school years, he took design classes at the Otis College of Art and Design and also attended the Art Center College of Design before enrolling at Stanford University.
Rise to Success
At Stanford, Spiegel studied product design and became involved in entrepreneurship. In April 2011, he proposed an app with ephemeral messaging for a product design class project. Collaborating with Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown, they launched a prototype called "Picaboo," which was later renamed Snapchat. The app's popularity surged, and in 2012, Spiegel left Stanford to focus on Snapchat, a decision that proved pivotal to his career. The company was later rebranded as Snap Inc. in 2016.
Key Business Strategies
Spiegel's key business strategies involve continuous innovation and adaptation. He spearheaded the development of features like Stories and expanded into hardware with Spectacles. Spiegel has focused on revenue diversification, including advertising products and subscriptions. In 2024, Snap Inc. made a revenue of $5.36 billion USD. The company also had a net loss of $698 million. Further, the company’s focus on AR ads, Snap ads and sponsored content, has driven growth in the advertising revenue.
Philanthropy
Spiegel and his wife, Miranda Kerr, are involved in philanthropy. They established the Snap Foundation, which supports youth, education, and non-profit arts programs. Spiegel also pledged to donate Snap shares to the foundation.