Forbes · Oct 17, 2026
With Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc.
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Snap spent about a decade and roughly $3 billion building Specs, the $2,195 smart glasses that Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc., unveiled in mid-September, Forbes reported in a video segment narrated by Kieran Meadows.
Smart glasses are a contest among the largest companies in technology. Snap is a midcap company, and it is up against three of them.
"It's being outgunned by Meta, Apple, and Google, trillion dollar companies with seemingly endless reserves of cash." — Kieran Meadows
Evan has turned down Meta's founder before. In 2013, at 23, he refused Mark Zuckerberg's $3 billion cash offer for Snap, and Facebook went on to copy Snap's features.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 3 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
Snap has bet the company on $2,195 Specs, built over about a decade for roughly $3 billion
Evan Spiegel refused a $3 billion Facebook offer in 2013, and Facebook later copied Stories and AR filters
Forbes compares Specs to Apple's $3,700 Vision Pro, not Meta's Ray-Bans, because they trade bulk for computing power
Meta is winning on distribution, with cheaper branded glasses and its EssilorLuxottica partnership
1. A $3B Bet on Glasses
Specs took Snap about a decade and roughly $3 billion to build. Forbes framed the launch as the product Evan has staked Snap on.
Forbes says Evan Spiegel has effectively bet Snap on the glasses
"A pair of $2,195 Specs, the chunky black smart glasses he's effectively bet his company on." — Kieran Meadows
The design drew mockery when Snap showed it in June. Evan leaned into the jokes at the September launch rather than away from them. Kieran gave Forbes's own view of the look.
"They look more like PPE for someone fixing a gas leak rather than a pair of fashionable shades." — Kieran Meadows
