Snap investors spooked as exec announces exit
Investors in Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, appeared rattled after it announced on Monday that its chief strategy officer, Imran Khan, would be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
Snap shares fell more than 2 percent during Monday’s trading session and are down more than 32 percent so far this year.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
SNAP | SNAP INC. | 11.81 | +0.20 | +1.72% |
Shares were trading near a record low.
Khan’s last day with the company has not yet been determined and he will stay on to assist with the transition period, the company said. He has been with Snap for three years. The company became public in March 2017.
Some red flags were raised in the second quarter, when the company reported monthly active users declined for the first time ever, by 2 percent. The decline follows a highly criticized redesign of the app, after which social media celebrity Kylie Jenner announced on Twitter that she no longer used the platform.
Jenner’s proclamation in February sent shares plunging, wiping out $1.3 billion in market value.
In a regulatory filing, the company said Khan’s departure was not related to any disagreement with the tech company, regarding “accounting, strategy, management, operations, policies, or practices (financial or otherwise)."
Khan owns 0.9 percent of the company’s Class A shares and 0.8 percent of outstanding Class B shares, according to The Wall Street Journal, making the market cap of his ownership about $92 million.