Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Google announced the all-stock deal on October 9, 2006, and the acquisition was completed the following month.
YouTube had been founded in February 2005 by former PayPal employees Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Its rapid growth came from making online video easy to upload, watch, embed, and share. Google already operated Google Video, but YouTube had developed stronger user traction and a recognizable community around user-generated video.
The purchase was paid in Google stock rather than cash. At the time, YouTube was less than two years old and faced major copyright concerns because users could upload clips they did not own. Google kept YouTube operating as a distinct service while supplying infrastructure, advertising expertise, and legal and commercial support.
A frequent mix-up is saying Alphabet bought YouTube. Alphabet became Google’s parent company in 2015; the buyer in 2006 was Google Inc. itself. YouTube is now a Google subsidiary within Alphabet’s corporate structure.