Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim founded YouTube on February 14. 2005. By May 2005, the trio proceeded with the beta testing stage, and the platform officially launched on December 15, 2005.
Where It All Began
Inspiration struck for the former employees of the e-commerce platform Paypal in 2004 over dinner. Initially, though, YouTube was a video dating website. The slogan was “Tune in, Hook up.” However, the dating angle failed, so the group decided to pursue the video opportunity instead. The infamous Superbowl moment between Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson provided another a-ha moment for Chen and company to redevelop YouTube into a video-sharing platform.
The Timeline of Events
February 2005 – The YouTube domain, trademark, and logo was registered by one of the co-founders Chad Hurley.
April 2005 – Co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the first video on the site entitled “Me at the Zoo.”
May 2005 – YouTube went into beta testing.
July 2005 – YouTube started allowing video HTML embedding.
August 2005 – Rating videos through a five-star system was introduced.
September 2005 – A Nike ad helped bring YouTube to its first one million views.
October 2005 – Users received the option to create playlists, subscribe to creators, and view videos on full screen.
December 2005 – YouTube exits beta testing. Sequoia Capital also invested $3.5 million in YouTube.
January 2006 – The Groups function was added.
February 2006 – Users were given the option to personalize their profiles.
March-May 2006 – A ten-minute limit to uploaded videos and the Directors function was launched.
June 2006 – The Content Verification Program was launched to prevent copyright infringement laws.
October 2006 – YouTube was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion.
May 2007 – The Partner’s Program, which helps content creators earn money through video uploads, was launched. The Charlie Bit My Finger video also became the first viral video.
July 2007 – YouTube hosted its first presidential debate in partnership with CNN.
August 2007 – Ads between ten to fifteen seconds first appeared.
March 2008 – YouTube upped the allowed video quality to 480p. Video analytics were also added.
December 2008 – Content creators were allowed to add music to their videos, provided these are in YouTube’s library of licensed songs.
January 2009 – The U.S. Congress and the Vatican joined YouTube.
April 2009 – YouTube was awarded the Peabody Award while launching the music video service VEVO.
November 2009 – YouTube further upped the video quality to 1080p.
December 2009 – The platform launched the automatic speech recognition service.
January 2010 – YouTube challenged Netflix and Apply by introducing its own feature film rental service.
March 2010 – The rating system was changed from the five-star system to the thumbs function.
July 2010 – Video quality was once again improved to 4K.
April 2011 – YouTube Live was launched.
October-November 2011 – The platform started taking better care of content creators by launching the original channels and YouTube Analytics.
June 2012 – The merger with Google Video occurred.
July 2012 – The first live-streamed Olympics happened on YouTube.
December 2012 – The platform hit its first one billion views with Gangnam Style.
November 2015 – YouTube Red, now more known as YouTube Premium, was launched.
October 2019 – YouTube looked to capitalize more on ads by introducing the Two Ads feature.
November 2019-June 2020 – The YouTube Studio Classic and the ability to use categories are being phased out.
Google’s Acquisition
One of the pivotal moments in YouTube’s corporate life is the acquisition by Google. Many other companies like Microsoft, Viacom, Yahoo, and the News Corporation courted YouTube, but Google ultimately rose above them all with a $1.65 billion stock-for-stock proposal. The original co-founders said YouTube and Google are a perfect fit because of the symbiotic relationship they will form. Susan Diane Wojcicki was then appointed as the CEO in 2014.
Conclusion
Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim’s YouTube has come a long way from being a failed video dating venture to now a multi-billion dollar company under Google. The platform has been around and growing for the past seventeen years with no signs of slowing down. With Susan Diane Wojcicki now at the helm, YouTube would continue to evolve and set a precedent for the trends in the entertainment industry.
- What is Jawed Karim’s background?
Jawed Karim is a 42-year-old software engineer and internet entrepreneur of Bangladeshi and German descent.
- What is Jawed Karim’s net worth?
It’s estimated that Jawed Karim is worth $300 million.
- What is Chad Hurley’s net worth?
The American tech entrepreneur is estimated to be worth $700 million.
- What is Steve Chen’s net worth?
Steve Chen’s estimated net worth is $400 million.
- What is the net worth of the current YouTube owner?
Susan Diane Wojcicki, YouTube CEO since 2014 after Google’s acquisition of the platform, has an estimated net worth of $815 million.
