Snap valued at $38bn after post-IPO share surge
Snap, the parent company behind tech company Snapchat, is worth $38bn after its shares soared to more than $27 on Friday, its second day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The valuation puts Snap ahead of Twitter, eBay and Delta, and means co-founder Evan Spiegel, 26, has seen his personal fortune increase by $6bn. In addition, NBCUniversal has invested $500m in Los Angeles-based Snap and has agreed to hang on to the shares for at least a year. Co-founder Bobby Murphy, 27, is estimated to be worth $5bn after the float.

Not so long ago Snapchat was being written off as nothing more than a sexting tool.

Now, the brains behind the app that lets people take pictures of themselves with cartoonish dog ears are having the last laugh with the tech company now valued at a whopping $38 billion.

Snap Inc., the parent company behind Snapchat, is now worth more than the likes of Delta and Target after shares continued to soar on Friday to more than $27 on its second day of trading.

It comes as NBCUniversal revealed they had invested $500 million in Snap as a part of the Snapchat owner's initial public offering.

Snapchat co-founders Bobby Murphy (left) and Evan Spiegel (right) rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as the company celebrated its IPO on Thursday

NBCUniversal, who is the lone U.S. media company with a stake, has agreed to hold Snap's shares for at least a year.

Snap debuted to much fanfare on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and closed at $24.48 a share, which was 44 per cent higher than their IPO pricing of $17 a share.

The tech company closed at $27.09 a share at the end of trading on Friday.

That means well known brands including Target, Delta, eBay, Twitter and Hilton are now all worth less than Snap - a six-year-old company, CNN Money reports.

The company's market value is also now higher than Intercontinental Exchange, which is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.

While such a pop on the market is positive for a company's momentum, it does not ensure long-term success and questions still remain for the future of Snap, including plans for its growth and profitability.

But that hasn't stopped investors from clearly betting big on 26-year-old CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel who saw his own wealth grow to an estimated $6 billion this week after taking the company public.

Snap Inc., the parent company behind Snapchat, is now worth more than the likes of Delta and Target after shares continued to soar on Friday to more than $27 on its second day of trading

CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel, 26, saw his own wealth grow to an estimated $6 billion this week after taking the company public

Supermodel Miranda Kerr, who is engaged to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, was on the trading room floor on Thursday supporting her soon-to-be husband

Spiegel, who is engaged to supermodel Miranda Kerr, cashed in $272 million worth of stock in Snap's IPO, Fortune reports.

MEET THE SNAP INC. BILLIONAIRES: Evan Spiegel: The 26-year-old CEO and co-founder of Snap Inc. saw his wealth grow to roughly $6 billion this week. Spiegel cashed in $272 million worth of stock in Snap's IPO. Most of his net worth is tied up in his company. He already has 210 million shares in Snap. He came up with the idea of Snapchat while working on a school project at Stanford University. He dropped out of school in 2012 to focus on launching the app. Bobby Murphy: The 27-year-old is Snapchat's co-founder and chief technology officer. His current shares in the company are estimated to be about $5 billion. He planned to sell 16 million shares as part of the IPO. Murphy helped found the company with Spiegel, who was his fraternity brother at Stanford. Imran Kahn: His net worth grew to at least $69.5 million this week given his 2.8 million shares in the company. He is Snap's Chief Strategy Officer. Timothy Sehn: The vice president of engineering at Snap is now worth about $165.3 million. Mitch Lasky: The general partner at Benchmark Capital Partners has a stake of almost $3 billion in Snap. Michael Lynton: He is on the board of Snap and his stake rose to $72 million this week. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/news/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

He is now worth more than twice what Oprah is.

Most of Spiegel's net worth is tied up in the company and he is expected to receive 36.8 million shares in the next three years as a CEO Award. Spiegel already has 210 million shares in the company and planned to sell 16 million as part of the IPO.

Snapchat's co-founder and chief technology officer Bobby Murphy, 27, was standing beside Spiegel when they rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Murphy's wealth also jumped considerably with his current shares in the company estimated to be about $5 billion. Like Spiegel, he also planned to sell 16 million shares.

In 2013, Facebook offered to buy the company from Spiegel and Murphy for $3 billion but they turned it down. If the first two days of trading are anything to go by, it was a sound decision.

Spiegel got the idea for Snapchat while working on a school project at Stanford University. He then dropped out of school in 2012, just three classes shy of graduation, to focus on launching the app.

He founded the company along with Murphy who was his former fraternity brother at Stanford.

Snapchat could have died a quick death as a 'sexting app,' but Spiegel showed a knack for adapting to users' whims and demands. Snapchat is no longer just about disappearing messages.

Over the years, it has added a 'Discover' section where a diverse group of publishers - including DailyMail.com - post video-heavy stories.

Miranda Kerr took photos on Snapchat with friends as Spiegel and his co-founder rang the opening bell on Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange

Snap debuted to much fanfare on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and closed at $24.48 a share, which was 44 per cent higher than their IPO pricing of $17 a share

The tech company closed at $27.09 a share at the end of trading on Friday

Another feature, 'Stories,' lets people create a narrative from messages, videos and photos from the past 24 hours. It's so popular that Facebook's Instagram now has a version of it as well.

Snapchat has millions of users, and Snap has built a thriving ad business on it. But the company has also made a lot of money - nearly $900 million - disappear in the past two years.

Despite a nearly seven-fold increase in revenue, Los Angeles-based Snap's net loss widened 38 percent last year.

It faces intense competition from larger rivals such as Facebook's Instagram as it grapples with decelerating user growth.