Which company owns the YouTube video platform, acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion?

The story behind the answer

Google owns YouTube, which it acquired in 2006 for $1.65 billion in Google stock.

YouTube was founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. The service rapidly became a major destination for user-uploaded video, and Google announced its acquisition in October 2006. The transaction closed later that year.

YouTube operates as a Google subsidiary and has expanded beyond short user uploads. Its services include advertising-supported video, YouTube Music, YouTube Premium, live streams, creator tools, and subscription television offerings in selected markets.

The acquisition is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Alphabet, Google's parent company. Alphabet was created in 2015, years after Google bought YouTube. Google remains the operating company associated with YouTube, while Alphabet is the broader corporate parent.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: