YouTube's three cofounders sold the video platform to Google for $1.65 billion（約2600億円） in 2006, with individual stakes worth $345 million（約550億円）, $326 million（約520億円）, and $64 million（約100億円） at the time.
The company is now valued at an estimated $550 billion（約88兆円）—a 333x increase—meaning the top two founders could each be worth more than $100 billion（約16兆円） had they retained their original ownership percentage.
The story illustrates the trade-off early-stage entrepreneurs face between securing immediate wealth and the possibility of vastly larger gains later.
What happened
YouTube's three cofounders—Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim—sold the video platform to Google for $1.65 billion（約2600億円） in fall 2006, receiving stock worth $345 million（約550億円）, $326 million（約520億円）, and $64 million（約100億円） respectively. YouTube is now valued at an estimated $550 billion（約88兆円）, a 333x increase from the sale price.
Why it matters
The founders' early exit illustrates a recurring pattern among tech entrepreneurs who sell ahead of exponential growth. Had Hurley and Chen retained the same ownership stake they held at sale, each could potentially have claimed more than $100 billion（約16兆円） in today's valuation. YouTube generated $54.2 billion（約8.7兆円） in revenue in 2024 and topped $60 billion（約9.6兆円） in 2025, making it larger than Netflix.
What to watch
The article notes that it remains unclear whether YouTube's massive growth would have been achieved without backing from a larger corporate owner like Google—suggesting the founders faced a genuine trade-off between early cash certainty and the risk of never reaching full potential.
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