Snap’s top executives are disappearing faster than the company’s photo messages.
The Snapchat parent said Monday that chief strategy officer Imran Khan — the No. 2 exec under CEO Evan Spiegel — will step down, the latest top-level exit amid pressure to stem user declines following a controversial redesign of the app.
Khan, 41, whose last day has not been determined, was named the chief strategy officer in 2015 and played a key role in taking Snap public in March last year.
Khan’s departure was not related to any disagreement with the company and he would continue to serve as chief strategy office for an interim period, Snap said.
“Given that the stock has gone through a massive correction since it went public, I think investors are not viewing this as an extreme negative,” Aegis Capital analyst Victor Anthony told The Post.
“He was well-liked within the organization, but you can’t escape the fact that the company is facing significant challenges right now,” Anthony added.
Snap in August reported its first-ever drop in daily users, largely due to the redesign, but beat quarterly revenue estimates on a shift to primarily selling ads through self-service.
“I think investors would have been accepting of a change in strategy and a more clear articulation of that change, but Mr. Khan’s departure suggests that a more dramatic change in outlook may be coming,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities.
The company’s shares were down nearly 2 percent at $9.75 in early trading.
Snap’s shares have lost 41.5 percent of their value since the market debut in March last year.
A former investment banker with Credit Suisse and a top-paid Snap executive, Khan received stock worth about $145 million at the time of joining, according to media reports.
Khan’s exit follows the departures of finance head Andrew Vollero and vice president of monetization engineering Stuart Bowers in May. Bowers joined Tesla Inc.
With Reuters


