There are approximately 4 million Indians who use Snapchat on a daily basis. But the CEO of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel, feels that India is just too poor a country to even consider expanding into.
According to a report by Variety, ex-employee Anthony Pompliano was suggesting how Snapchat should consider expanding to India and Spain, when he was allegedly cut mid-sentence by Spiegel during a meeting in 2015. The point of discussion was the company’s expansion to potentially lucrative markets.
The reason? Apparently, the expansion isn’t really necessary because:
“This app is only for rich people. I don’t want to expand to poor countries like India and Spain.”
The unapologetically elitist and ignorant statement came to light when Pompliano’s lawsuit against the company was made public.
The lawsuit tells about Pompliano’s three-week stint at the Snapchat office and everything he uncovered during his time there. From gross malpractices to erroneous representation, the company was grossly falsifying its numbers, which Anthony sought to disclose.
When Pompliano made attempts to rectify it, he was fired and his phone wiped clean of all data pertaining to Snapchat. The lawsuit was made public earlier this week and Pompliano’s lawyers now feel they have a better chance of winning the case and disclosing the truth for everyone to see.
Well, call it vanity or just plain ignorance, Snapchat’s CEO definitely comes across as a pompous ass. And we think this error on his part calls for a Shashi Tharooresque lesson in how rich India actually is!