Jawed Karim (born October 28, 1979) is an American software engineer and Internet entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of YouTube and the first person to upload a video to the site. The inaugural video, “Me at the zoo,” was uploaded on April 23, 2005, and has over 345 million views as of January 2025.
While working at PayPal, he met fellow YouTube co-founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley and designed key components, including PayPal’s real-time anti-fraud system.
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Jawed Karim Net Worth
Jawed Karim has a net worth of $300 million. After co-founding YouTube, he left to attend Stanford University, taking a smaller equity stake than Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.
In October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. Karim received 137,443 Google shares, worth $64 million at the time. With Google’s stock price rising, those shares are now worth over $350 million pre-tax, assuming he hasn’t sold any.
Early Life
Jawed Karim was born on October 28, 1979, in Merseburg, East Germany, to a Bangladeshi father, Naimul Karim, a researcher at 3M, and a German mother, Christine, a biochemistry scientist at the University of Minnesota. He was the elder of two boys.
His family fled East Germany in the early 1980s due to racism, settling in Neuss, West Germany, before moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1992. He graduated from Saint Paul Central High School in 1997, attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, worked at PayPal, and later earned degrees from Stanford University. He speaks German, English, and Bengali.
Career
While at Silicon Graphics, Inc., Jawed Karim worked on 3D voxel data management for volume rendering, including the Visible Human Project. In 2002, he met Chad Hurley and Steve Chen at PayPal. In 2005, they co-founded YouTube, where Karim created the first account, “jawed,” and uploaded the first video, “Me at the zoo,” on April 23, 2005.
Choosing to be an adviser rather than an employee, he took a smaller share. When Google acquired YouTube in 2006, he received 137,443 shares worth $64 million.
Personal Life
In March 2008, Jawed Karim co-founded the venture fund Youniversity Ventures (now YVentures) with Keith Rabois and Kevin Hartz.
He became one of Airbnb’s first investors, participating in its initial seed round in April 2009. YVentures has also invested in Palantir, Reddit, and Eventbrite.
Who is Google owner?
Google was founded on September 4, 1998, by American computer scientists Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were PhD students at Stanford University in California. Together they own about 14% of its publicly listed shares and control 56% of its stockholder voting power through super-voting stock.
Conclusion
Jawed Karim’s financial journey is a testament to the potential of technology entrepreneurship and strategic investing. His story serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide.
FAQs About Jawed Karim’s Net Worth
- What is Jawed Karim’s net worth?
- Approximately $300 million.
- How did Jawed Karim earn his wealth?
- Primarily through co-founding YouTube and subsequent investments.
- What companies has Jawed Karim invested in?
- Airbnb, Reddit, Eventbrite, and Palantir, among others.
- What was Karim’s role in the founding of YouTube?
- He was a co-founder and developed the first version of the site.
- Did Jawed Karim benefit from the sale of YouTube to Google?
- Yes, he earned significant stock in Google, which has appreciated in value over time.
