YouTube’s cofounders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen split over $650 million in stock shares when they sold the video platform to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, according to SEC documents. Hurley, then CEO, received shares worth about $345 million, while Chen, the CTO, got $326 million. Jawed Karim, who left early, received $64 million. The sale marked a pivotal moment for the company, which has since grown into a dominant global media platform, according to fortune.com.
The deal closed in fall 2006, with Google acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time, the founders and early shareholders received their stock shares based on the acquisition terms. Hurley expressed optimism about the merger, calling it a union of "two kings" in a video posted when the sale was announced. Despite the significant payout, the founders could not have predicted YouTube’s future scale and influence in digital media and advertising, fortune.com reported.
YouTube’s valuation has since surged to an estimated $550 billion, a 333-fold increase from the 2006 sale price. The platform evolved from a simple video-sharing site into a global powerhouse, spawning a creator economy and turning personalities like MrBeast into household names. The founders’ decision to sell early highlights the challenges startup leaders face in balancing immediate returns against potential long-term value in the fast-changing tech landscape, fortune.com noted.
YouTube’s 2006 acquisition by Google remains one of the most significant tech deals of its era. The SEC filings released months after the sale detailed the exact stock allocations to the founders, with Hurley and Chen together receiving nearly $671 million. This transaction set the stage for YouTube’s growth into a platform with billions of users worldwide and a central role in online entertainment and advertising.