California school makes millions on Snapchat IPO

St. Francis, an exclusive Catholic high school in Mountain View, invested seed money in Snap in 2012. Simon Chiu, president of the school, announced the sale of the school’s stock during Snap’s public offering this week in a letter to parents, Joinfo.com reported with reference to The Next Web.

All told, the school sold 1.4 million shares of Snap stock, at the opening price of $17, making a cool $24 million. Their remaining shares are worth an estimated $17 million.

The school invested in Snapchat thanks to the efforts of one of the parents, Barry Eggers of Lightspeed Venture Partners. Father of two St. Francis students, his company led an investment round for Snapchat’s two founders.

Lightspeed invested all but $15,000 of the target goal, and Eggers invited the school to make up the balance.

Chiu says the money will go towards the school’s newest venture, a community outreach program called Leading with Hope and Zeal.

He says, “This incredible boon will not, by itself, completely fund the goals of the strategic plan, but it will help us lay the necessary foundation and give us a remarkable head start.”

It should be recalled that after pricing the IPO at $17 per share the stock opened on Thursday at $24. It then closed the day at $24.51, a 44% premium to the people who bought it earlier.