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Here are 20 senior executives who have abandoned Snap since its IPO less than 2 years ago

Jan 16, 2019, 19:07 IST

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel speaks onstage during 'Disrupting Information and Communication' at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 8, 2014 in San Francisco, California.Getty/Michael Kovac

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  • At least 20 executives have left Snap since the company went public in March 2017.
  • The latest to quit is chief financial officer Tim Stone, who is leaving after just eight months in the job.
  • The string of departures has left Wall Street jittery, and Snap's stock is down 10% in pre-market trading.
  • Analysts have questioned this '"lack in continuity" at management level.

At least 20 executives have left Snap in the past two years, with just a handful of people considered to be CEO Evan Spiegel's lieutenants left at the company.

The latest departure is chief financial officer Tim Stone, who replaced Andrew Vollero in May 2018, but has stepped down after just eight months on the job.

Stone's departure, coupled with the news that vice president of investor relations Kristin Southey quietly left in November, has prompted jitters on Wall Street.

Analysts at Jefferies wrote in a note to investors:

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"When Stone was initially hired, we were hopeful for improved financial prudence and better communication with the Street. In his first two quarters Stone laid out financial guidance and seemed to be focused on being prudent with investments with a focus towards sustainable growth. However, with Stone's sudden departure we question the direction that management will take the business."

Here are all the executives who have left Snap since it went public in March 2017:

Chief financial officer, Tim Stone, announced his departure in January 2019.

Snap hired Tim Stone to replace its first CFO, Andrew Vollero, in May 2018. Stone had previously worked at Amazon, a famously tough working environment, but only stuck around at Snap for eight months before the company announced his departure. The news of Stone's move sent Snap's stock plummeting.

Snap confirmed its head of HR Jason Halbert was leaving in January 2019.

Halbert has been at Snap for almost four years, and oversaw the firm's human resources department. He was described as "infamous" in a profile by The Information for sharing stories with staff about everything from how he masturbated during his time in the military to his run-ins with organized crime in Mexico.

Head of global strategic partnerships Elizabeth Herbst-Brady quit in January 2019.

In January 2019, Business Insider broke the news that Herbst-Brady would be leaving Snap. She was responsible for ad agency relationships and key accounts for Snap and previously served as head of New York ad sales for the company. Her departure came after a mix-up with fellow sales exec Kristen O'Hara, who was offered the role of chief business officer, but had the offer rescinded days later. That decision caused division in the sales team, sources said.

Vice president of communications Mary Ritti left at the end of 2018.

Ritti was Snap's longtime comms chief, acting as the main gatekeeper between the press and the company. She built up the firm's small comms team both in the US and abroad.

Sahil Sharma lasted 6 months overseeing Snap's Spectacles unit, leaving in December 2018.

Snap's foray into hardware hasn't gone well to date. Its camera-enabled Spectacles were such a flop that the firm had to write down almost $40 million in 2017. It's probably not a coincidence that Snap has cycled through a bunch of execs to lead its hardware division, with Sharma taking the job of acting lead in July 2018 but leaving in December 2018.

Chief strategy officer Imran Khan quit in November 2018.

Imran Khan joined Snap in 2015, his first job in tech after a career in investment banking. He steered the social media company through its float, and was widely seen as the grown-up in the room, given the youth of Snap's founders Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. He left in November 2018 to launch an online shopping startup.

Vice president of content Nick Bell announced his departure in November 2018.

British exec Nick Bell left Snap after around five years building up the firm's content partnerships with publishers such as Vice. Bell led on original content for the Snapchat app, and was seen as one of the most important execs in the company. Bell hasn't announced his future plans, but said he would be transitioning out of his role and then taking some time off to recharge.

The woman who managed Snap's investor relations, Kristin Southey, left in November 2018.

Cheddar first reported that Kristen Southey, Snap's vice president of investor relations, had left the firm in late November after less than two years in the job. Southey's move came to light with the news that CFO Tim Stone was also leaving, prompting Wall Street jitters.

Kristen O'Hara quit in October 2018 after Snap rescinded a job offer to become chief business officer.

Kristen O'Hara left Snap after just two months, thanks to what can only be described as a major bungle by Evan Spiegel.

O'Hara had been hired to a senior sales position, but was then reportedly offered the job of chief business officer. The company changed its mind just two days later, and handed the job to Jeremi Gorman, an Amazon executive.

O'Hara, unsurprisingly, quit.

Steve LaBella, vice president of marketing, left in late 2018.

LaBella had been at Snap since 2016, and his departure coincided with a push from Snap to reignite growth for the Snapchat app. According to Cheddar, Spiegel wanted to rethink Snap's marketing and communications, in part so that advertisers could better understand how the app works.

Snap Spectacles division chief Mark Randall left in July 2018.

Mark Randall was the first head of Snap's secretive hardware arm, SnapLab, which produced its camera-enabled Spectacles and is exploring other gadgets like drones. The division underwent layoffs in 2017, and Randall said in 2018 that he would leave to start his own company. He was replaced by Jerry Hunter, while Sahil Sharma (briefly) took over as Spectacles chief.

Snap's first CFO Andrew Vollero quit in May 2018.

Andrew Vollero joined Snap in 2015, the same year former CSO Imran Khan joined, and likewise guided the firm through its IPO. He left just as Snap reported disastrous earnings, but the firm said his departure had nothing to do with its results or any disagreement with the company.

VP of sales Jeff Lucas left in February 2018 after less than 2 years.

Jeff Lucas joined Snap from Viacom in 2016, sticking around through the firm's IPO before his departure in 2018. He joined Verizon as its head of north American sales and client solutions the same year.

Chief security officer Jad Boutros left in January 2018.

Snap poached Boutros from Google, and he oversaw issues around privacy, spam, and abuse for the Snapchat app. He was also responsible for security inside Snap. He was replaced by another Googler, Matthew Moore.

Head of product Tom Conrad left at the beginning of 2018.

Conrad was seen as a key lieutenant to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, playing a big role in the development of the Snapchat app. When Conrad announced his departure, he said he would be leaving the tech industry altogether to focus on more creative pursuits.

Kathy Mandato left her job in HR after just five months in late 2017.

Mandato left her job as vice president of human resources after just five months, according to The Information. She had spent around a decade at NBC Universal, but was the latest in a string of female executives to quit Snap.

Senior vice president of engineering Timothy Sehn resigned in November 2017.

Sehn was the fourth Snap exec to depart shortly after it went public, having headed up its engineering efforts since 2013. He was one of the highest paid execs at the company, and his name appears on some significant Snap patents. In October 2018, Sehn said he was founding a new data company called Liquidata with two other former employees.

General counsel Chris Handman left in the summer of 2017.

Handman helped lead Snap's IPO, but left less than six months after the float. Business Insider described him as another key lieutenant to Evan Spiegel who built a close-knit team of lawyers.

Head of HR and legal Robyn Thomas left in July 2017.

Snap has struggled to retain female executives, especially in the HR department. Robyn Thomas left just a few months after Snap's IPO.

Martin Lev, VP of security and facilities, left in July 2017.

Lev left Snap after about a year, and became head of physical security at Amazon. He's now a director at DST Global.

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