Reality TV star Kylie Jenner wiped $1.3bn off Snap’s stock market value after tweeting that she no longer used its Snapchat messaging app.
Celebrity Kim Kardashian’s half-sister posted: “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.”
Snap’s shares sank after Ms Jenner’s tweet about Snapchat’s re-design to her 24.5 million Twitter followers.
One million people signed a petition demanding Snap roll back the change.
After dropping almost 8%, shares in Snap closed 6% down on Wall Street, and are now back near the $17 price at which the shares were listed when the company floated on the stock market in March of last year.
Snapchat is facing intense competition from Facebook’s Instagram – especially for celebrity users – and Ms Jenner’s attack comes at a time when investors are already worried.
Ms Jenner later tweeted a follow-up: “still love you tho snap… my first love”.
Snap has rejected complaints about November’s re-design to its messaging app, with its boss Evan Spiegel saying earlier this month that users just needed time to get used to it.
Mr Spiegel had something to soften the blow, though, with news on Thursday that his total pay last year was a staggering $637.8m.
It is thought to be the third-highest annual package ever received by a company’s chief executive.
Kylie Jenner is not the first celebrity to move markets.
In October 2015 The TV host Oprah Winfrey bought a 10% stake in Weight Watchers, endorsing the firm publically at the same time.
Investors saw their shares rise by 92% over successive weeks.
read more at BBC
