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Snapchat paid ex-iOS chief 0.11pc to be an advisor, leaked Sony email reveals
Scott Forstall, formerly senior vice president of iOS at Apple, was awarded a 0.11pc stake in Snapchat last year, leaked emails reveal
Snapchat gave former Apple executive Scott Forstall 0.11 percent of its stock for becoming an advisor in 2014 – a stake that could now be worth $16.5 million – a leaked email from the Sony Pictures hack has revealed.
The email, published this week by Wikileaks, shows that Snapchat gave small portions of its stock to a number of employees in February 2014. Several software engineers were granted 10,000 (0.022 per cent).
However, Mr Forstall, who ran the the original software development team for the iPhone and iPad and was senior vice president of iOS at Apple from 2007 until October 2012, received 50,000 shares (0.11 percent).
Peter Magnusson, a former Google executive who joined Snapchat as VP of Engineering, was supposed to receive 227,000 shares (0.5 per cent), but he left the company after just six months, so was not able to vest his options.
Snapchat was given a valuation of $10.5 billion in a recent round of funding, which would make Mr Forstall’s share worth $16.5 million if he completes his 24-month vesting schedule.
It is not clear what contribution Mr Forstall has made to the company, but he is described as an "advisor" in the leaked email. Snapchat told TechCrunch: “We have a number of advisors, but we don’t comment on the specifics of their relationship with the company”.
The leaked information was included in a database of 30,287 documents and 173,132 emails that was uploaded to the WikiLeaks website after hackers stole them from Sony Pictures Entertainment, the company’s movie division, last November.
The database is the first time the information has been made available in one place in a searchable format. The Snapchat emails were included because Michael Lynton, Sony Pictures’ CEO, is a Snapchat board member.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said that the documents "show the inner workings of an influential multinational corporation" and should be in the public domain, but Sony reacted with fury and a spokesman said that the company wanted to "strongly condemn" Assange’s actions.
Among the other emails included in the database is one revealing that the BBC will make Doctor Who into a Hollywood blockbuster, despite the misgivings of the writers who do not want to rush into making a movie.
Other emails claim that some of the Oscars judges did not want 12 Years a Slave, directed by Britain’s Steve McQueen, to win Best Picture - because it was not patriotic enough to America.