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Bobby Murphy cofounded Snapchat with Evan Spiegel and became the technical counterpart to Spiegel's product leadership, retaining founder control as the service evolved into public company Snap. [1][2]
Engineering Snapchat and Snap
Murphy grew up in Berkeley, California, the son of state employees, and studied mathematical and computational science at Stanford. After college he worked at a software startup before teaming with fellow Stanford student Evan Spiegel on the product that became Snapchat. [1]
Snapchat launched in 2011 around disappearing photo messages, with Murphy serving as the principal technical cofounder. As the service expanded into video, Stories, advertising and augmented reality, Murphy remained chief technology officer and helped build the underlying engineering and camera technology. [1][2]
Snap went public in 2017, while Murphy and Spiegel retained strong voting control through special share classes. Murphy's fortune is therefore tied to the founder equity he created in Snap rather than to inherited wealth or a family operating business. [1][2]
Sources for background
Sources reviewed Sep 14, 2026.
- Bobby Murphy · Forbes · Mar 10, 2026
- Snap at EmTech 2022: Enhancing Our World Through AR · Snap · Nov 3, 2022
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