Kylie Jenner ‘sooo over’ Snapchat – and Wall Street panics

Kylie Jenner attends a gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on 1 May 2017 in New York City.Image copyright
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Reality TV star Kylie Jenner wiped $1.3bn off the stock market value of Snap after tweeting that she no longer used its Snapchat messaging app.

The half-sister of celebrity Kim Kardashian asked her 24.5 million Twitter followers: “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore?”

Snap’s share price sank after she added her powerful social media voice to criticism of Snapchat’s re-design.

One million people signed a petition demanding Snap roll back the change.

After dropping almost 8%, shares in Snap closed 6% down on Wall Street, and are now back near the $17 price at which the shares were listed when the company floated on the stock market.

Snapchat in facing intense competition from Facebook’s Instagram – especially for celebrity users – and Ms Jenner’s attack comes at a time when investors are already worried.

She tweeted: “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.”

She did, though, later tweet a follow-up: “still love you tho snap… my first love”.

Snapchat has rejected complaints about November’s re-design, with Snap boss Evan Spiegel saying earlier this month that users just needed time to get used to it.

Mr Spiegel had something to soften the blow, though, with news on Thursday that his total pay last year was a staggering $637.8m.

It is thought to be the third-highest annual package ever received by a company’s chief executive.

The remuneration was, however, heavily boosted by the award of shares when the company listed on the stock market.

Mr Spiegel’s basic salary for 2017 was $98,078.

The package trails the 2007 and 2008 compensation for Daniel Och, head of hedge fund Och-Ziff Capital Management.

He received annual packages of $918.9m in 2007 and $1.19bn in 2008.

Kylie Jenner ‘sooo over’ Snapchat – and Wall Street panics