Co-creator of iOS now an advisor for Snapchat, received 0.11% in stock
Former Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software, Scott Forstall (pictured right) was forced to leave the iPhone maker in 2012 as a result of failed Apple Maps launch. Forstall never officially signed on at another company and then, in late 2013, it was reported that he was serving as an advisor for several unnamed startups.
Now a leaked Snapchat email, uncovered by TechCrunch after WikiLeaks posted leaked emails from last year’s Sony hack, indicates that Forstall is working with Snapchat in an advisory capacity. In return for his efforts, Forstall received 0.11 percent in Snapchat stock.
Snapchat got caught up in the Sony hack because Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures’ CEO, is also a Snapchat board member and his emails to other Snapchat board members were exposed in the hack.
When TechCrunch questioned Snapchat about its affiliation with Forstall, the company did not deny the relationship, merely responding “We have a number of advisors, but we don’t comment on the specifics of their relationship with the company.”
The email shows that Forstall received a 0.11 percent stake in Snapchat, with the options vesting over a period of 24 months. At the end of that period, Forstall’s stake could be worth as much as $16.6 million based on the recent funding round that valued Snapchat at $15 billion.
The email also shows that other key employees were granted stock options, although significantly less than Forstall. A number of software engineers were each granted 0.022 percent. Interestingly, ex-VP of engineering for Snapchat, Peter Magnusson, who left Google to join the company, was granted 0.5 percent – Magnusson left Snapchat after just six months and his options never vested.
Forstall’s generous compensation perhaps has something to do with the fact that he is credited with being the co-inventor of iOS and was once considered as “Apple’s CEO-in-waiting.”
The infamous Sony hack exposed other goings-on at Snapchat, including that the Facebook purchase offer the company turned down was far higher than the rumored $3 billion, that it had quietly acquired AddLive for $30 million, Vergence Labs for $15 million and Scan.me for $14 million. Leaked emails also suggested that Snapchat was considering starting its own music label.
photo credit: Scott Forstall Demoes iPhone via photopin (license)
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