Revealed: $1m bill to keep Snapchat boss safe

PHOTO app Snapchat is so concerned about the safety of reclusive boss Evan Spiegel it is paying almost $1m a year to protect him.

The eye-watering figure – around £700,000 – is more than four times the cost of security for Apple chief executive Tim Cook, whose company dwarfs Spiegel’s. And it is also almost three times the cost of protecting former UK prime minister Tony Blair.

Snap, which owns Snapchat, said that Spiegel, who is married to Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr, had received threats in the past and was likely to receive more.

In filings with US securities markets, it wrote: ‘The loss could disrupt our operations and seriously harm our business.’

Spiegel, 27, is notoriously secretive and is usually whisked between Snap’s scattered Los Angeles offices in a black Range Rover by his security detail. He is described as aloof by insiders and does not allow colleagues to photograph him. But at a critical time for Snap – its shares have sunk to around $13, well below their initial offer price of $17 – his grip on the company remains ironclad.

Snapchat is facing intense competition from Facebook-owned rival Instagram, which has cloned many of its most notable features. But Spiegel is said to have dismissed concerns about Instagram and is said to have remained deeply involved in product development, much like the way his hero Steve Jobs ran Apple.

A lock-up on company shares has also started to wind down, allowing staff to trade their stocks for the first time since the float on the stock market.