Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for about $1.65 billion in an all-stock transaction, adding the leading online video platform to its services.
YouTube was founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, who had previously worked at PayPal. Its early growth came from the ease of uploading and sharing video through a web browser, at a time when online video services often had technical or distribution limits.
Google kept YouTube operating as a separate brand and platform rather than merging it into Google Video. The acquisition gave Google a powerful position in online video, advertising, and creator distribution. YouTube’s first uploaded video, “Me at the zoo,” was posted by Jawed Karim in April 2005. The service later expanded to live streaming, subscriptions, music, and television-style programming.