S&P 500 to exclude Snap after voting rights debate

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 .SPX will start excluding companies that issue multiple classes of shares, managers of the index said on Monday, a move that effectively bars Snap Inc (SNAP.N) after its decision to offer stock with no voting rights.

The decision takes effect starting Tuesday, according to a statement by the manager of the widely used benchmark, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC.

Snap did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Existing components of the S&P index with several share classes - such as Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) - will not be affected.

"Companies with multiple share class structures tend to have corporate governance structures that treat different shareholder classes unequally...