Tech boss who made £450m last year – even though his company has never made a profit
THE 27-year-old boss of a mobile phone app that has never made a profit has received a £457million pay deal – the third highest ever.
Evan Spiegel, the tech guru who founded Snapchat less than seven years ago, picked up a massive one-time stock award after floating his company on the stock market last year.
Spiegel, who is married to Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr, becomes the second highest-paid businessman on record – surpassing even the pay deals handed to other Silicon Valley bosses such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.
The only person to have surpassed his pay packet is the boss of US hedge fund Och-Ziff, Daniel Och, who picked up £658million and £850million in 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Yet incredibly, Spiegel’s firm Snapchat – which trades as Snap – has never made a profit. The firm has made a loss of £250million in the past three months and has never been in the black during its time in existence.
Snapchat is a picture messaging app in which users send images that can only be viewed by the recipient for a limited amount of time.
Spiegel founded Snapchat in 2011 as a student at Stanford University. It was formed during a party with two of his friends, one of whom was later forced out of the company after falling out with Spiegel.
It floated on the New York Stock Exchange last March, and shares immediately soared – however, as losses grew they have now fallen back below the level they originally traded at.
Spiegel’s income comprises pay and other compensation of around £1million, and share-based awards of £456million. He and his 34-year-old wife are expecting their first child together.
Spiegel was born in Los Angeles and raised by Christian parents. According to Kerr, Spiegel is a traditionalist and believes in no sex before marriage.
The Snapchat billionaire and his Australian wife married in front of fewer than 50 guests last year following a two-year romance.
They live in Los Angeles’ affluent Brentwood neighbourhood in a £9million property once owned by Star Wars actor Harrison Ford.
Kerr was previously married to Lord of the Rings star Orlando Bloom with whom she has a seven-year-old son. The pay deal handed to Spiegel is almost ten times that of Britain’s best paid boss of a public company – WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell earned £48.1million last year.
LEWIS HamIlton broke the longest silence of his recent life to declare himself ready to sign a new £40million-a-year mercedes contract before the season starts in melbourne next month.
the four-time world champion made the commitment at the launch of the team’s 2018 car, the W09, in front of invited guests at a bone- chilling Silverstone yesterday.
Hamilton has cut down his social media output since he was criticised for joking that ‘Boys don’t wear dresses’, while posting a video of his nephew in a princess dress.
Until yesterday he had studiously left off verbal commentary from his updates since the online storm broke on Boxing Day.
Hamilton admitted the shrill reaction — or what his team principal toto Wolff called ‘a lot of c**p online’ — had dented his psyche, but added: ‘It is not how you fall; it is how you get up.’
He added: ‘ We had already planned to start a clean slate at the beginning of this year. It just so happened it was an opportunistic time to change it. moving forward, there is a balance you have to strike.
‘I have been very open with my life for several years now and it is always difficult to make a change because I quite like being open.
‘But we are in a strange time in the world where things are magnified more than in previous years. It is a critical time for the world. I will continue to show what I am doing. It is just being a little bit more strategic in what I do show and don’t show.’
HamIlton radiated positivity in the gloom of northamptonshire, promising to stay beyond his contract that runs until the end of this year. His anticipated new multi- season deal will make him the highestpaid driver in history.
‘Hopefully we’ll have something done before the start of the first race,’ said the 33-year-old, who is chasing Juan manuel Fangio’s mark of five titles. ‘ But we’re in no rush with the contract. there’s no panic.
‘I’m not feeling under pressure of any other drivers being under consideration and toto and mercedes have no reason to feel I’m talking to anybody else.’
Wolff confirmed the i’s are being dotted. Ferrari’s launch was relayed into Silverstone by video link from maranello, where 2017 runner- up Sebastian Vettel called their new car ‘ a big step forward’. Hamilton ( left) predicted animosity ahead. ‘You would expect it to be worse than last year,’ he said of his rivalry with the German. ‘Honestly, I don’t play mind games. I just drive faster. Simple.’
Hamilton looked a little chunkier than last season — he said he would trim down for the first race, the australian Grand Prix on march 25 — and revealed the secrets to keeping his fitness regime fresh after 20 years of gym work and sacrifice.
‘after winning the title, I went to la and then Colorado,’ he said. ‘I travelled with my family. But there was no snow. I made a trip to Japan and went snowboarding there instead. It is what I love doing in the winter.
‘I also went surfing in Japan. It was a good experience. then to Europe and back to america, where I went surfing again, with Kelly Slater (a top american surfer).
‘I say I did a lot of surfing, but I did a lot of swimming. I am not the greatest surfer in the world, yet. I went for the biggest waves, but got barrelled over.
‘I also went to Hawaii. It was the longest break I have had in 10 years.
‘I normally get a bit of December and January off, but this time it was December to February. I needed that to recharge.
‘I have spiced up my training, adding jiu-jitsu, to go with the muay thai I started before. It is fun and I get fit. It is win-win.’