who invented youtube
YouTube was invented by three former PayPal employees: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim in February 2005.
Quick Scoop: Who Invented YouTube?
- Inventors: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim.
- When: The site was founded/registered on February 14, 2005, in California.
- Background: All three had worked at PayPal before starting YouTube.
- Original idea: A video-based dating site called “Tune In, Hook Up,” which quickly pivoted into a general video-sharing platform.
Mini Timeline
- Late 2004: Idea for a video-dating site where users upload short clips.
- February 14, 2005: YouTube.com domain activated and company founded by Hurley, Chen, and Karim.
- April 23, 2005: First ever YouTube video (“Me at the zoo”) is uploaded.
- May 2005: Public beta launches; it becomes a general video-sharing site.
- October 2006: Google acquires YouTube for about 1.65 billion dollars in stock.
Fast Facts Table
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who invented YouTube? | Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. | [3][4][5][1]
| When was YouTube founded? | February 14, 2005. | [4][6][3][2]
| Where was it founded? | San Mateo / San Bruno area in California, United States. | [9][3][4][2]
| What was the first concept? | A video dating site (“Tune In, Hook Up”). | [5][1][2]
| Who owns YouTube now? | Google (Alphabet), after buying it in 2006. | [8][7][4]
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.