YouTube was launched in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim.
The three founders had worked at PayPal before creating a service that made uploading and sharing online video easier. YouTube’s first video, “Me at the zoo,” was uploaded by Karim on April 23, 2005. The platform quickly grew because videos could be embedded on other websites.
Google acquired YouTube in 2006 for approximately $1.65 billion in Google stock. YouTube remained a distinct brand and service rather than becoming Google Video, an earlier Google video product. The acquisition helped Google build a major global platform for user-generated and professional video.