Snapchat accused of lying about his growth by a former employee – The Figaro

The court in California has received a complaint against the company in a few weeks of its ipo.

False note in the meticulous orchestration of the ipo of Snapchat. While the company is preparing its entrance on Wall Street for the first quarter, one of its former employees are accused of having inflated its audience figures to increase his valuation, in a complaint filed on January 4, in the Superior Court of California. Anthony Pompliano, a veteran of the war in Iraq converted to the extent of the hearing on the social networks, past by Facebook, claims to have been thanked by Snap Inc (publisher of the app Snapchat) after only three weeks. Reason: not have tolerated what he refers to as “fraud” widespread. Executives from Snapchat, it would have alerted them to the deception, according to the complaint ready “to not let anything hinder the introduction on the stock Exchange, to the point of lying about the facts” and ruin the reputation of Anthony Pompliano. “Since [his dismissal], he has had great difficulties to secure his new job,” exp lains the lawyer of the complainant, David Michaels, the american website Variety. He claimed an injunction to do no harm to his reputation on the part of Snapchat, as well as arbitration proceedings on his dismissal is deemed abusive.

“We have reviewed the complaint. It has no meaning,” says a spokesperson for Snapchat, Mary Ritti, with the Hollywood Reporter. “It is simply brought by a disgruntled former employee”. The company says that Anthony Pompliano has been fired for his incompetence. But in a context where the full confidence of investors is essential, Snapchat has, in this procedure, more to lose than to gain.

The american society eyeing the side of Wall Street since last September. Snapchat a valuation of $ 25 billion, and puts the means to achieve it. It has already acquired four start-ups in recent months. She is also a close-up of investment banks from September last.

Launched a year ago, the advertising monetization of Snapchat should report to him nearly a billion dollars in revenue by the end of 2017, according to a report by eMarketer. A growth which is explained by the many tools developed by the company in order to attract advertisers, very interested in its 150 million active users and its place of choice among the younger audience. Snapchat promises brands to spread their advertising more specifically to this audience coveted thanks to behavioral targeting.

Anthony Pompliano says, however, that Evan Spiegel “did that make measurements of hearings”. Poached from Facebook in August 2015 to ride in the Snap of a dedicated team, Anthony Pompliano said to have been a victim of false promises about the rate of growth of users and the commitment hearings. In the 16-page document obtained by the Hollywood Reporter, the elements corroborating this accusation, however, are grayed out due to a confidentiality agreement of the complainant.

screen Capture of the complaint

Anthony Pompliano also accuses Snapchat of having hired to make a “shot” at Facebook and extort, under the pressure, of the confidential information on its rival. He added that he alerted Drew Boller, chief financial officer of Snapchat and architect of the ipo, as well as other officers on his refusal to give the lie to the figures. It would have very quickly been perceived as a “whistleblower” is harmful. Anthony Pompliano has been a little over a year and a half before the filing of a complaint to the tribunal.

in The United States, trials of this type are longer and especially much more expensive. The parties are often encouraged to trade quickly, otherwise, the fees of lawyers and experts in litigation can be counted in millions of dollars. With a factor of ipo imminent, such a complaint – whether well-founded or not – is a thorn in the foot of Snapchat.