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Chad HurleyDesigner, co-founder of YouTube
Date of Birth: 01.01.1977
Country:  USA |
Content:
- Biography of Chad Hurley
- Education and Early Career
- Creation of YouTube
- Success and Google Acquisition
- Post-YouTube Projects
Biography of Chad Hurley
Chad Meredith Hurley was born in 1977 in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. He grew up with his older sister Heather and younger brother Brent in a family of Don and Joann Hurley. From a young age, Chad had a passion for art in all its forms, but as he grew older, he became more and more interested in computers.
Education and Early Career
While attending high school, Chad became a member of the Technology Student Association. He went on to study art and design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During his final year of university, Chad heard about a new service called PayPal. He offered his design skills to create the company's logo, which became the symbol of PayPal for many years. Chad became the chief designer at PayPal and formed friendships with Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, who later became his co-founders.
Creation of YouTube
After PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002, Chad and his friends contemplated starting their own business. In 2005, they encountered a problem when trying to share a video from a recent party. They realized there was a gap in the market for a platform to publish home videos. This led them to create YouTube, a simple website dedicated to sharing videos. The first video was uploaded a couple of months later. In November 2005, YouTube was officially launched, and by July 2006, the site had 65,000 uploaded videos and received 100 million views per day.
Success and Google Acquisition
Chad was responsible for designing the logo, interface, and overall website design of YouTube, while Karim and Chen worked on the coding. In November 2006, YouTube was sold to Google for $1.65 billion, and Chad remained as the CEO of the video-sharing platform. The deal also granted him 694,000 shares of Google. Chad was the only founder who continued to work for YouTube after the acquisition. However, he eventually left the company in October 2010, retaining a position as an advisor and consultant.
Post-YouTube Projects
Chad ventured into fashion design after leaving YouTube. He focused on creating a men's clothing line called "Hlaska," known for its association with Silicon Valley professionals. Chad explained that he wanted to create something that was previously unavailable, similar to YouTube. Despite his background in programming, Chad took on the challenge of designing clothing for programmers. He also continued to share personal and family videos on YouTube, but restricted access to only his friends. Chad is married to Kathy Clark, the daughter of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jim Clark, and they have two daughters.
Aside from fashion, Chad also expressed interest in the American Formula 1 team, Team US F1, in 2010.
