T. Rowe Price, the mutual fund giant that is one of Snap’s biggest backers, has reportedly “quietly and persistently” objected to a plan put forth by the internet company’s founders to only sell non-voting shares when it goes public, according to the Australian Financial Review.
While many tech companies, like Facebook, have remained founder-controlled after a public offering, Snap Inc, the parent company to Snapchat, plans to take a more extreme approach to retaining founder control. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has decided to only sell nonvoting shares when it goes public.
If its founders get their way, it would mean Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy would retain 70% of the voting power while only owning 45% of the stock, the WSJ reported, citing sources familiar the matter.
That situation doesn’t sit well with T. Rowe Price’s CEO Bill Stromberg.
“We want our clients to have the vote they deserve. So we are quietly and persistently advocating for change,” Stromberg said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review.
“These companies are so…