I was told Evan Spiegel was really sick. The 29-year-old CEO of Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, was battling a cold of mythical proportions. His voice, I was told, would barely register above a whisper.
We’d be meeting on the top floor of the main building of Snap’s Santa Monica, California, headquarters, the entirety of which is actually Spiegel’s office—a quiet, almost cathedral-like space with wood-paneled walls, vaulted ceilings, and liberal amounts of natural light that stands in contrast with the low-partition-cubicle styling of the two floors below.
This description will almost certainly be triggering for those who long ago concluded that they know who Spiegel is: the cocky L.A. rich kid turned imperial CEO—who famously turned down a $3 billion buyout offer from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2013 only to see Facebook co-opt his innovations—perched in his private aerie.
But the man who greets me on a sunny Thursday morning in late December is nothing like this caricature. Nor does he appear to be infirm. Throughout our conversation, his voice is strong, he’s smiling and quick to laugh, and his hair? Not the slightest bit of bed head. He’s grateful, thoughtful, self-critical, and, perhaps most of all, joyful.
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