Snapchat owner, Evan Spiegel has faced sharp criticism for the comments allegedly made by him about not prioritizing growth in India and Spain because they are “poor” countries and the Shares of Snap fell by 1.5 percent on Monday.
Indian American Vishal Amin for IPR Enforcement
The dip has put Snap on track to close at its lowest level in nearly a month, a bad sign following its $3.4 billion public listing, that was the hottest by a technology company in three years.
Twitter users using the #boycottsnapchat hashtag has called for uninstalling the Snapchat app after a legal document unsealed last week has alleged that Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel in 2015 said that he is uninterested in prioritising growth in India and Spain because they were “poor”.
The legal document that was filed in a Los Angeles state court, concerns claims made in the lawsuit filed by an employee who has left the company in 2015 and Snap has said it considers the litigation to be a publicity stunt.
“This app is only for rich people. I don’t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain,” Spiegel is alleged to have said.
“Those words were written by a disgruntled former employee. We are grateful for our Snap Chief Executive in India and around the world,” Snap said in a statement.
Snapchat is very popular among people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies, but many investors are critical of its slowing user growth. Snap has warned that it may never become profitable.
Its stock was down 29 cents at $19.90. Shares of Snap have fallen 26 percent from their highest closing price following the public listing and they remain up by 17 percent from the company’s $17 IPO price.
By Premji
