The founder of Snapchat who is already 'Millionaire' at 26

Years ago Evan Spiegel rejected an offer from Mark Zuckerberg for 3,000 million dollars. Last week, with the stock market, doubled that figure.

The Snapchat application is a mystery for the elderly who, for the most part, do not understand why their daughters, cousins, sisters and nephews take dozens of photographs and videos, of seemingly irrelevant things and without much care. It's not by chance. The application has caught millions, especially between 13 and 35 years old, who chat through images with text about important things and day-to-day trivialities. Snapchat likes the spontaneity with which users often use numerous filters to put, for example, nose and dog ears to the boss's photo. Its broad objective audience, according to the company, adds 158 million users in 2017.

Its founder, Evan Spiegel, 26, tried to explain how it works in a YouTube video, but he did not succeed because he really learns by using it. Spiegel did explain the vision that inspired his company and boosts its future: "In a world where 1,500 images are taken daily, photography is no longer used to record memories. It becomes a new communication language. " Snapchat focuses on the moment. The application allows you to take a picture or video, write and / or draw on top, add filters and send it to someone, who can see it for a period of six to ten seconds before vanishing. You can also create 'stories', a summation of images and videos in the style already described, chronologically telling an event ... the trip to the museum, the piyamada, the Colombian party, the rumba with the friends.

Its success is based on several elements: it dominates a niche very appealing to the one that keeps stuck for a large part of the time of the day. It is also fresh compared to Facebook and Twitter, which age and have become a dense dumping ground for controversy. That's why advertisers, tired of spending on the duopoly of Facebook and Google, found on Snapchat a way to associate content with a very well segmented audience.

Since 2011, Spiegel and his co-driver, Bobby Murphy, thought and executed that different way of understanding and mixing photography and instant messaging. That's why its application has not stopped attracting users and, as a result, more media attention. Last week, it launched a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, and the fears of some analysts who considered that step hurried will only be confirmed over time. 

In addition, in an unpopular measure that takes advantage of the good cleanliness of the company, those who acquire shares have no voice and vote in the company, which are exclusively handled by Spiegel and its associates.

You may also be interested: Instagram sour life on Snapchat For now, the celebration has predominated. On the first day of his company Snap Inc. on Wall Street, Spiegel saw his wealth grow from 3,000 to 5,400 million dollars (doubles Oprah Winfrey), and fortune also smiled at third parties who trusted his project. A school that invested $ 15,000 five years ago, advised by a parent who watched his children frantically use it, earned $ 24 million with his 2.1 million-share package. 

A public offering in the technology sector did not impact well since the Chinese online trading giant Alibaba arrived in the stock market in 2014. The move meant Spiegel was on the cover of TIME magazine. But speak with prudence. 

"We created our business based on creativity," Spiegel told the LA Times newspaper just after ringing the bell on Wall Street, "and in the next five years we must educate people about how that creativity creates value." Indeed, in the course of its first week in the stock market, Snap Inc.'s stock rose 59 percent in the first two days and then fell 18 percent in the next five. 

The company still loses money, but because of the attention it generates among its users, it is worth more than emporiums such as Target, Delta Airlines, eBay, Twitter and Hilton. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO and founder of Facebook, offered 3,000 million dollars for Snapchat because he recognized the enormous potential of his idea.

 But since Spiegel is not the typical Silicon Valley entrepreneur, he rejected the big buck because he knew he had a winning project. He invented it while studying at Stanford University (which requires head and pocket), along with his teammate, Murphy, and while working in a software company that inspired him to jump into the water. He retired from Stanford and devoted himself full time to his idea. Zuckerberg, who acquired Instagram, now seeks to compete from there.

We also recommend reading: Mark Zuckerberg breaks his silence in the face of Trump's decisions Evan Spiegel is a special millionaire. Until two years ago, when the company already generated money, he lived with his father in the exclusive Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, because, as he explained, "he did not pay rent". Eventually she adapted to the role and the circumstance: in 2015, she bought a Ferrari and in 2016 she officially made her commitment to the former supermodel Miranda Kerr, two months after buying a $ 12 million mansion with her. 

And although the visit to Wall Street last week forced him to put on his coat and tie, Spiegel has created a uncomplicated look, a 'characteristic pint', whose essential garment is a simple white T-shirt with a V-neck. In September 2016 Snapchat became Snap Inc., and officially branched out. He released some peculiar glasses with an included camera that he named Spectacles, which he sells for $ 129. 

This marked the first step towards his future, with a publicly traded company that diversifies to create hardware that supports his philosophy of reinventing the camera. "Five years ago we concluded that the camera does more than capture memories. 

We proved that it could be used to talk, and our dream is to expand what she can do in people's lives, "Spiegel told the LA Times. Only time will tell if the furor is maintained, unlike the messages it handles.