Early Life and Education
Robert Cornelius Murphy was born on July 19, 1988, in Berkeley, California. His mother emigrated from the Philippines. He attended the School of the Madeleine and Saint Mary's College High School in Berkeley. He graduated from Stanford University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematical and computational science. At Stanford, he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity with Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown.
Rise to Success
Murphy co-founded Snapchat with Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown in 2011, originally as Picaboo. He served as the CTO of Snapchat, leading the engineering and research teams. Snapchat's popularity soared, particularly among younger users, due to its unique approach to sharing photos and videos that disappeared after viewing. In 2017, the company went public, marking a significant milestone.
Key Business Strategies
Key to Snapchat's success has been its innovation in features like augmented reality filters, Bitmoji, and the Discover section. Murphy has focused on sustainable growth, emphasizing the platform's evolution from a simple photo-sharing app into a multifaceted platform. Despite competition from other social media companies like Instagram, Murphy and his team have continually introduced new features to keep Snapchat fresh and engaging.
Philanthropy
In 2017, Murphy and Spiegel committed to donating up to 13,000,000 shares of Class A common stock to the Snap Foundation, which will support the arts, education and youth non-profits. Murphy is known for his philanthropic endeavors, focusing on education and mental health. He has supported organizations such as the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
