The co-founder of Snapchat was inspired to complete his degree in product design so his son Hart won't have any excuses when he comes of age.
- Jul 20, 2018
AceShowbiz - Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel has gone back to school to obtain his college degree, so he can set a good example to his baby boy with his supermodel wife Miranda Kerr.
The 28-year-old dropped out of California's Stanford University in 2012 to pursue his dream of launching the social media app, which, by 2015, had made him the youngest billionaire in the world.
However, after becoming a first-time father in May, Evan was inspired to complete his degree in product design so his son Hart won't have any excuses when he comes of age.
"I was literally imagining in my head, like, 'How are we gonna convince him to go to school?'" the entrepreneur told breakfast show Today.
Evan, who wed Miranda last year (17), is also stepdad to the Australian beauty's seven-year-old son Flynn, from her previous marriage to actor Orlando Bloom.
The tech boss actually came up with the idea for Snapchat, through which photos and videos posted online disappear after 24 hours, with fellow Stanford classmates Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown as part of a course project, but the proposal was ridiculed by other students.
Spiegel is now the CEO of Snapchat's parent firm Snap, Inc., and became the youngest public company boss in March, 2017, when it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Despite his personal net worth, business hasn't been all good for Snap, Inc. - shares tumbled in February, after reality TV star and make-up maven Kylie Jenner criticised the app's redesign.
"Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?," she asked fans on Twitter. "Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad (sic)."
Jenner's tweet wiped $1.3 billion off the company's market valuation, but Evan stands by executives' decision to rework the app's layout.
"We feel sorry that Kylie was upset about it, but it was the right thing to do for our community," he explained to Today.
Snapchat officials also came under fire from Rihanna in March, after slamming platform bosses for running an ad for a new Would You Rather? game, which poked fun at the singer's 2009 assault at the hands of her then-boyfriend Chris Brown, asking users if they would "rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown".
The promo was quickly removed as Snapchat chiefs apologised, claiming it was published in error, but the statement was too little, too late for Rihanna, who promptly dumped the social media app and urged her fans to do the same.
