To me, the thing about turning down 3 billion is, it's not money you ever had in the first place, so you can't miss it if you turn it down. I assume the creators had some reason for turning the money down and they might regret it later, but - and I guess I'm going to sound naive - I don't find turning down 3 billion that big of a deal if you have what you consider good reasons for doing it. Especially if you never got in for the money in the first place and the creators of Snapchat didn't. I guess it could be regarded as a return on time investment, considering I don't think they make money on the app now. There's no advertising and it's free and no one gives you money just because people are using your app. (As far as I understand it.)

It depends on what I was offered 3bn for. If I turned it down because maintaining creative control was worth it to me then I would not be upset about turning it down at all.

I guess my point is that not having that 3bn does not negatively impact their lives. Having the 3bn could positively impact their lives, assuming they (the Snapchat team) were also responsible, hired money managers, etc. But it could also be dangerous if you're not smart about the money.