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TECHNOLOGY Monday 6 February 2017

Snap, maker of the teen social app Snapchat, files for IPO

BARBARA ORTUTAY work — post video-heavy
AP Technology Writer stories aimed at millennials.
NEW YORK (AP) — The com- Another feature, “Stories,”
pany behind Snapchat, a lets people create a narra-
teen-oriented social net- tive from messages, videos
work famous for its quickly and photos from the past
disappearing messages, 24 hours. It’s so popular that
has filed for what could Facebook’s Instagram now
be one of the largest tech has a version of it, too.
IPOs in years. Snap Inc. said And then there’s goofy
Thursday that it’s seeking “Lenses,” which lets people
up to $3 billion in an initial add animated overlays to
public offering, a figure photos and videos — ani-
that could shift based on mals, for example, or flower
investor demand. That de- crowns and sparkly eyes.
mand will help determine The company came un-
the price per share sought der fire a couple of times
for adding filters many saw
by Snap in the upcoming as racist. One had slanted
weeks. eyes and buck teeth com-
Snapchat has millions of us- monly associated with neg-
ers, and Snap has built a ative Asian caricatures; an-
thriving ad business on it. other, which Snap called
But the company has also a “Bob Marley” filter, dark-
made a lot of money — In this Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013, file photo, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel poses for a photo in Los ened people’s skin. Snap
nearly $900 million — disap- Angeles. Snap Inc., owner of the ephemeral message service Snapchat, seeks to raise up to $3 later got rid of the offend-
billion in an initial public offering.
pear in the past two years. Associated Press ing filters.
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP BIG MONEY
The fast-growing social net- Spiegel, 26, is poised to investors, according to its the years. This, as both The highly anticipated IPO
work for the younger set become a multibillionaire, IPO documents filed Thurs- companies have discov- is expected to be the one
boasts 158 million daily us- along with his former fra- day. If Snap can fetch the ered, is key to outlasting so- of the largest since Alibaba
ers. It lets people send pho- ternity brother at Stanford, same price in its IPO, Spie- cial media fads. Snapchat Group went public in 2014.
tos, videos and messages Robert Murphy, 28, who is gel and Murphy each will is no longer just about dis- But Snap is better known
that disappear a few sec- also a company co-found- be worth $7 billion. appearing messages. than the Chinese e-com-
onds after viewing. It was er. Each man owns 227 mil- Snapchat could have died Over the years, it has add- merce company, and so
created in 2012 by Evan lion shares of Snap stock, a quick death as a “sexting ed a “Discover” section draws comparisons to the
Spiegel, who dropped out which was valued at $30.72 app,” but Spiegel showed where a diverse group of IPOs of Facebook and Twit-
of Stanford University just per share nine months ago a knack for adapting to us- publishers — including Peo- ter. Facebook raised $16
three classes shy of gradu- when the company raised ers’ whims and demands, ple, the Wall Street Journal, billion when it went public
ation to focus on the app. $700 million from a group of just as Facebook has over CNN, Vice and Food Net- in 2012.q

FCC led by Trump pick starts to reverse Obama policies

BY TALI ARBEL ones owned by the phone sumer, but that did not re- overstepped its bounds,
AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER company. But many con- quire them to change what suggesting that he would
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Fed- sumer advocates say that they were doing. steer the agency in a di-
eral Communications Com- ultimately hurts consumers New FCC Chairman Ajit rection more favorable
mission often took stances by undermining other, in- Pai, picked by President to big phone and cable
that angered the phone dependent services. Donald Trump, said Friday companies. In a December
and cable industries under The FCC, in the waning that “free-data plans” are speech, he said the FCC
the Obama administration. days of the Obama ad- popular with consumers needed to take a “weed
It’s already starting to lean ministration, had criticized and improve competition. whacker” to what he con-
the other way. AT&T for exempting its Di- The agency’s moves on Fri- sidered unnecessary regu-
The regulator of broadcast recTV Now live-TV stream- day may mean that “zero lations that hold back in-
TV and internet services ing service from AT&T data In this Aug. 9, 2013 file photo, rating” becomes more vestment and innovation.
says cellphone companies caps on cellphones. FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai common. Rules in jeopardy include
that exempt some services The FCC had issued a re- presents his dissent during Other Obama-era poli- “net neutrality,” which
from data caps are good port in January saying a Federal Communications cies are threatened. Pai bars internet service pro-
for consumers after all. AT&T’s and Verizon’s prac- Commission (FCC) hearing at has long maintained that viders from favoring some
That effectively cuts prices tices, known as “zero rat- the FCC in Washington. the FCC under Chair- websites and apps over
for these services, usually ing,” were likely anti-con- Associated Press man Thomas Wheeler had others.q