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Imran Khan, Snap's director of strategy and one of the few executives of the company in difficulty since his public offering in 2017, is stepping down.
On Monday, the company stated in a regulatory filing that Mr. Khan would remain in the company until his replacement was hired. Subsequently, he should create a company that will help and invest in technology start-ups, according to a person familiar with the subject.
"There's never a perfect time to say goodbye," said Mr. Khan in the filing, "but we have a stellar management team in place to guide Snap through the next chapter, and I'm planning to stay to ensure a very smooth transition. "
He is the last leader to leave Snap at a time of turbulence for the once high-ranking social network, led by Evan Spiegel. The company's former chief engineer, Tim Sehn, left in December; its product manager, Tom Conrad, was replaced in March; and Snap brought in a new chief financial officer, Tim Stone, in May.
Snap, the maker of Snapchat, announced last month decline in the number of users during the period from April to June, its first quarterly decline. Users dropped out of the app this summer after an unpopular redesign, which Snapchat has now partially canceled. In a call to investors, Stone warned that Snapchat's next earnings report could show a further drop in daily active users as the company tends to experience declines among its active users in the third quarter.
The company's shares have fallen more than 40% in the last six months. It dropped more than 3% on Monday after the announcement of Mr Khan.
A native of Bangladesh, Mr. Khan began his career in a startup before moving to Wall Street, making a name for himself at JPMorgan Chase as a leading Internet research analyst.
In 2011, he embarked on investment banking, joining Credit Suisse to conclude transactions for Internet companies. This is where he landed a coveted mission: helping Alibaba Group, the Chinese titan of e-commerce, to go public in 2014. Mr. Khan one of Alibaba's closest advisers, guiding the company through investor meetings on the path to what became an initial $ 25 billion public offering.
Mr. Khan came to Snap in 2015. He was responsible for transforming a social networking start-up into a sustainable business. Analysts have compared her role to that of Sheryl Sandberg, who joined Facebook in 2008 to manage commercial roles such as ad sales.
Khan's main responsibilities were to create an advertising company for a platform based on the disappearance of videos favored by young people. His answer: build a sales team and help develop new types of ads that fit on the Snapchat platform, including goals that allow users to add computer-generated images to their photos and videos.
Last year, Snap's advertising activities generated approximately $ 829 million in revenue and is expected to generate some $ 1 billion this year.
He also worked closely with the bankers to guide the company in its initial offer.
"We will not miss a beat during this period," Khan wrote in an email from the company about his departure from The Times. "And you will be left in better hands than mine."
Mr. Spiegel, CEO of the company, said in a statement that Mr. Khan had been "a great partner in building our business."
"We appreciate all his work and wish him the best," he added.
Follow Kate Conger and Michael J. de la Merced on Twitter: @kateconger and @m_delamerced.
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