When Snapchat turned down a $3 billion cash acquisition offer from Facebook, the tech world was beyond shock. Now, Snapchat's CEO has offered his explanation to why he hasn't sold the company.

“There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this,” Evan Spiegel told Forbes on Monday. “I think trading that for some short-term gain isn’t very interesting.”

Forbes calculates that Spiegel and his cofounder Bobby Murphy would have received $750 million each from the Facebook offer. The deeper reason would be that Snapchat's founders sensed weakness and opportunity.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first approached Spiegel in his hometown at the end of 2012, and according to Forbes, proceeded to try intimidate Snapchat's founders by telling them that Facebook planned to release an almost identical app a few days later. "It was basically like, 'We're going to crush you,'" Spiegel told Forbes. That app was Facebook Poke, which proved to be a flop.

The following fall, Zuckerberg approached Snapchat again, this time with a bid to buy it. But by then Snapchat's founders felt they had an edge.

Snapchat has since raised another $50 million at a reported $2 billion valuation — less than Facebook's reported bid, but getting the young company is getting there.

Read the full interview here.


Pic: Snapchat founders Bobby Murphy, 25, and Evan Spiegel, 23.