Everyone knows YouTube. The countless channels and pieces of material that are posted on YouTube every day are also well known. But are you familiar with YouTube’s creator and the website’s history? YouTube has pioneered the road for video sharing and exchange among all social media platforms. One of the first Internet video-sharing services, it is now in a class of its own. So, let’s take a look at the man behind YouTube – Jawed Karim – his net worth and business.
Here’s everything to know about Jawed Karim!
Table of Contents
Who is Jawed Karim?
Jawed Karim is an American of Bangladeshi and German descent who is a software engineer.
He was one of the founding fathers of YouTube along with Steve Chan and Chad Hurley in 2005.
Jawed was with YouTube from its inception and uploaded the first-ever video, ‘Me at the Zoo‘, on the platform.
As of 2023, the video has been viewed over 279 million times.
Karim’s early life and education:
Jawed was born in East Germany on 28th October 1979 to Naimul and Christine Karim.
His father, Naimul, was a Bangladeshi researcher who worked at 3M, headquartered in Minnesota.
Karim’s mother, Christine, was a scientist and was associated as a Professor of Biochemistry.
He has one younger brother, Ilias Karim.
Although Karim was born in Germany, he crossed the border to inner Germany with his family in the 80s due to xenophobia.
Finally, in 1992 his family moved to Minnesota, where Karim graduated from Saint Paul Central High School in 1997.
Career life:
Karim started working very early in his life with an internship at Silicon Graphics, Inc.
There, he worked on the ”3D voxel data management for large data sets that include the information for Visible Human Project”.
He dropped out of college and joined PayPal.
It was there that he met Steve Chen and Chad Hurley.
How Was YouTube Founded?
The trio discovered there was no such video streaming service when they wanted to see clips of the Super Bowl XXXVIII controversy involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, as well as the consequences of the tsunami and earthquake in the Indian Ocean.
In order to share videos with others, they devised a plan to build a website where users could go and do so directly.
The founders based the interface on the website ‘Hot or Not‘, a simple rating website that lets users rate the attractiveness of the photos that are submitted by users.
First Ever YouTube Video Creator – Jawed Karim
The first ever YouTube channel created was by Jawed Karim, who uploaded the first ever video titled ‘Me at the Zoo’.
The video was recorded by his friend Yakov Lapitsky and was made in the San Diego Zoo.
At present, the video has more than 280 million views.
Growth of YouTube:
The first ever YouTube video to get 1 million views was a Nike ad featuring Ronaldinho in 2005.
The video showed Ronaldinho receiving the Golden Boot Award. YouTube officially launched in December 2005, when the website received over 8 million views in one day.
But during that time, YouTube could only accept 100 mb videos, which were limited to 30 seconds of footage.
YouTube gained recognition when NBC Universal Saturday Night Live ‘Lazy Sunday‘ broadcasted on the same week as YouTube’s launch.
This became the unofficial video uploaded on YouTube.
This was a two-headed coin as it boosted SNL’s ratings and helped YouTube gain recognition.
The video received over 5 million views but was removed 2 months later due to copyright issues.
This helped cement the way for the Content Verification Program under the policies of YouTube.
After a few legal issues, YouTube went into a deal with NBC, and this cemented YouTube’s place in history.
In 2006, YouTube announced that they received almost 65K uploads daily, and their videos were getting over 100 million views daily.
Google’s Acquisition of YouTube and Karim’s Re-emergence
Once YouTube was launched, the founder Jawed Karim requested to become an informal adviser to complete his studies at Stanford University.
Because of this, he also took a lower share than Chad Hurley and Steve Chan.
So, he remained out of the view of the general public.
But when Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, Karim came back into the limelight.
When the company was sold, his shares of 137,443 shares were worth over $64 million.
Currently, Jawed Karim Net worth is more than $300 million.
Karim’s Business Growth
In 2008, Karim launched Y Ventures, partnering with Keith Rabois and Kevin Hartz.
He also invested in the Seeding round of Airbnb in 2009.
Also, Karim invested in Formatech in 2020, which is listed as his last personal investment document
The investment plan was valued at $7 million.
Karim’s Personal Life
There is not much known about Javed Karim personal life.
However, there are rumors about his relationships.
He is currently supposed to be in a relationship with Kia Abdulla, a novelist from the UK.
Conclusion
Jawed Karim life is one of ‘living the American dream‘ that most people inspire when immigrating to the USA.
As long as YouTube is being used as one of the biggest video-sharing platforms in the world, people will remember Jawed Karim.
Who knew that a simple guy from Germany showing a short video of an elephant in the San Diego Zoo would one day change the digital world?
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