who-owns-airbnb

Who Owns Airbnb?

Airbnb’s founders primarily own Airbnb: Brian Chesky, with over 76 million Class B shares, which give him 33..4% of ownership and 30.6% of voting power; Nathan Blecharczyk, with over 64 million Class B shares, which give him 29.4% and 26.9% of voting power; and Joe Gebbia, which has nearly 47 million of Class B shares which give him 21..5% ownership and almost 27% of voting power. Other institutional investors comprise Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, and The Vanguard Group.

AspectDescriptionAnalysisExamples
Products and ServicesAirbnb provides an online platform that connects hosts (property owners) with guests (travelers) looking for accommodations. The platform offers a wide range of lodging options, including entire homes, apartments, villas, cabins, and even unique properties like treehouses and houseboats. Additionally, Airbnb offers experiences and activities hosted by local individuals, allowing guests to explore their destination.Airbnb’s core offerings center around its online platform, which facilitates the booking of accommodations and experiences. The platform’s diverse property listings cater to various travel preferences and budgets, offering unique and conventional options. The addition of experiences enhances the travel experience, providing guests with opportunities to explore their destination in new ways. Airbnb is a marketplace that connects hosts and guests, offering a platform for bookings and payments.Accommodations including entire homes, apartments, villas, cabins, and unique properties, experiences and activities hosted by locals, an online platform facilitating bookings and payments, diverse property listings catering to various travel preferences and budgets, enhancing the travel experience with unique accommodations and local experiences.
Revenue StreamsAirbnb generates revenue primarily through service fees charged to hosts and guests for each booking. These fees cover platform usage, booking services, and support. Additionally, Airbnb may earn revenue through optional services like professional photography for listings and promotional services to increase visibility.The primary source of revenue for Airbnb is the service fees collected from hosts and guests for each booking. These fees provide revenue while covering the costs of platform usage, booking services, and customer support. Optional services, such as professional photography and promotional services, create additional revenue streams. Airbnb’s business model relies on its commission-based approach to monetize the platform.Revenue from service fees charged to hosts and guests for each booking, covering platform usage, booking services, and support costs, additional revenue from optional services like professional photography and promotional services, commission-based business model monetizing the platform.
Customer SegmentsAirbnb’s customer base includes hosts (property owners) who list their accommodations on the platform and guests (travelers) who book these accommodations. Hosts range from individual property owners to property management companies. Guests come from various demographics, including leisure travelers, business travelers, and tourists looking for unique experiences.Customer segments for Airbnb encompass hosts (property owners and property management companies) and guests (leisure travelers, business travelers, and tourists). Airbnb caters to a diverse group of hosts and guests seeking different types of accommodations and experiences. The platform’s flexibility makes it suitable for a wide range of travelers and hosts.Hosts (property owners and property management companies) listing accommodations, guests (leisure travelers, business travelers, tourists) booking accommodations, diverse customer segments with varying preferences and needs, platform’s flexibility catering to a wide range of hosts and guests.
Distribution ChannelsAirbnb primarily operates through its online platform and mobile app, making it accessible to users worldwide. Hosts can create and manage listings, while guests can search, book, and communicate with hosts through the platform. Additionally, Airbnb engages in marketing and partnerships to attract both hosts and guests to the platform.Distribution channels for Airbnb revolve around its online platform and mobile app, providing accessibility to users globally. Hosts use the platform to create and manage listings, while guests use it to search, book, and communicate with hosts. Marketing efforts and partnerships are employed to attract hosts and guests to the platform, promoting user engagement and growth. Airbnb employs a digital marketplace approach for its distribution.Online platform and mobile app for accessibility to users worldwide, hosts managing listings and guests booking accommodations through the platform, marketing and partnerships attracting hosts and guests to the platform, digital marketplace approach for distribution.
Key PartnershipsAirbnb forms partnerships with various stakeholders to enhance its platform and offerings. Collaborations with property management companies expand the supply of accommodations. Partnerships with governments and municipalities address regulatory and tax compliance. Airbnb also collaborates with tourism organizations to promote destinations and local experiences.Collaborations with property management companies increase the availability of accommodations on the platform, providing more options for guests. Partnerships with governments and municipalities help address regulatory and tax compliance issues, ensuring a transparent and legal framework for Airbnb’s operations. Collaborations with tourism organizations promote destinations and local experiences, enhancing the travel experience for guests. Partnerships support Airbnb’s growth and regulatory compliance.Collaborations with property management companies expanding the supply of accommodations, partnerships with governments and municipalities addressing regulatory and tax compliance, collaborations with tourism organizations promoting destinations and local experiences, partnerships contributing to growth and regulatory compliance.
Key ResourcesAirbnb’s key resources include its online platform and mobile app, which facilitate property listings, bookings, and communication between hosts and guests. A diverse inventory of accommodations is crucial, as it provides choices for travelers. Customer support and dispute resolution services ensure a positive user experience. The brand and reputation of Airbnb as a trusted platform are valuable assets.Key resources for Airbnb encompass its online platform and mobile app, serving as the foundation for property listings, bookings, and communication. A diverse inventory of accommodations provides options for travelers, enhancing the platform’s appeal. Customer support and dispute resolution services are essential for resolving issues and maintaining a positive user experience. Airbnb’s brand and reputation as a trustworthy platform are valuable assets, contributing to its success and user trust.Online platform and mobile app facilitating property listings, bookings, and communication, diverse inventory of accommodations enhancing appeal, customer support and dispute resolution services ensuring a positive user experience, brand and reputation as a trustworthy platform as valuable assets, contributing to success and user trust.
Cost StructureAirbnb incurs costs related to platform maintenance and development, including software development and server hosting. Marketing and advertising expenses are vital for user acquisition and brand promotion. Customer support and dispute resolution entail personnel and operational costs. Additionally, regulatory compliance expenses may arise from legal and governmental requirements.Costs associated with Airbnb’s operations include platform maintenance and development, covering expenses such as software development and server hosting. Marketing and advertising expenditures are essential for user acquisition and brand promotion, driving growth. Customer support and dispute resolution involve personnel and operational costs, ensuring a positive user experience. Regulatory compliance expenses may arise from legal and governmental requirements, ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations. Airbnb manages costs while investing in growth and user satisfaction.Costs related to platform maintenance and development (software development, server hosting), marketing and advertising expenses for user acquisition and brand promotion, customer support and dispute resolution costs for a positive user experience, regulatory compliance expenses addressing legal and governmental requirements, cost management balancing growth and user satisfaction.
Competitive AdvantageAirbnb’s competitive advantage stems from its vast and diverse inventory of accommodations, which caters to a wide range of traveler preferences and budgets. The platform’s global reach and user-friendly interface make it accessible to users worldwide. Collaborations with property management companies enhance its supply. Airbnb’s brand and reputation as a trusted platform contribute to its competitive strength. The addition of experiences sets it apart by offering unique local activities.Airbnb’s competitive edge lies in its extensive and diverse selection of accommodations, addressing various traveler preferences and budgets. The platform’s global presence and user-friendly interface provide accessibility to users worldwide. Collaborations with property management companies expand its supply of accommodations. Airbnb’s brand and reputation as a trusted platform bolster its competitive strength. The inclusion of experiences differentiates it by providing unique local activities for travelers.Vast and diverse inventory of accommodations addressing various traveler preferences and budgets, global reach and user-friendly interface providing worldwide accessibility, collaborations with property management companies expanding supply, brand and reputation as a trusted platform enhancing competitive strength, differentiation through the inclusion of unique local experiences.

Origin Story

In 2007, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia tried to make extra income to pay their rent.

Chesky and Gebbia, friends from design school, saw a big opportunity when back in 2007, a large international design conference was about to be hosted in San Francisco. 

It wasn’t unusual to have all hotels sold out during these large conferences.

However, at that time, Chesky and Gebbia swiftly built a website called AirBedandBreakfast.com (their guests would sleep on air beds), and surprisingly rented it to three designers attending the conference. 

As Chesky and Gebbia recalled, at the time, most people thought the idea was crazy as strangers would have never accepted to “stay in each other’s homes.”

And yet, that first weekend, something interesting happened.

As the three designers had rented the air beds at Chesky and Gebbia’s apartment, they realized the potential of offering an experience as a local to someone coming from out of town. 

Indeed, that was one of the key elements that would make Airbnb different from traditional Hotels.

It wasn’t just a room but potentially a whole end-to-end experience that made guests feel like locals and hosts become the ambassadors of their local community while building their entrepreneurial journey.

That event made Chesky and Gebbia continue with this experiment. By 2008, software engineer Nathan Blecharczyk joined the two co-founders to focus on the UX of the platform, to solve what would become the central problem for Airbnb, that of “making strangers comfortable enough to stay in each other’s homes.”

Some of the elements that would make this possible, combined a platform with: 

  • Host and guest profiles.
  • Integrated messaging.
  • Two-way reviews.
  • And secure payments.

Over the years, other key elements were added to the platform that helped gain further traction (like hiring professional freelance photographers to enrich the visual experience on the platform or adding experiences on top of the stay). 

Each of those elements would help Airbnb achieve a larger and larger scale until the pandemic hit, and Airbnb had to figure out how to make its business model even more sustainable to survive. 

airbnb-evolution

Airbnb business model today

Today Airbnb’s Business Model is a platform that enables hosts and guests to connect.

airbnb-business-model
Airbnb is a platform business model making money by charging guests a service fee between 5% and 15% of the reservation, while the commission from hosts is generally 3%. For instance, on a $100 booking per night set by a host, Airbnb might make as much as $15, split between host and guest fees. 

Airbnb has also turned into an entrepreneurial platform enabling an ecosystem of businesses on the one side and guests on the other.

Indeed, by 2022, Airbnb enabled over $63 billion in gross booking value, with an average service fee of 13.3%, for over 390 million nights and experiences booked!

airbnb-unit-economics
As a peer-to-peer platform, Airbnb will collect a fee from both key players once the transaction between host and guest goes through. For example, from a $100 booking per night set by the host, Airbnb might collect $3 as a hosting fee. At the same time, it might increase the price for the guest to $116 ($16 above the price set by the host) to collect its guest fees of $12 and taxes for the remaining amount. In 2023, on $73.25 billion in gross bookings, the company reported revenues of $9.92 billion, a record of $4.79 billion in net income, and 13.5%, in take rates.

Ownership Structure of Airbnb

  • Airbnb is primarily owned by its co-founders:
  • Brian Chesky owns 29.1% of the company with 76,407,686 Class B shares.
  • Nathan Blecharczyk owns 25.3% of the company with 232,306 Class A shares and 64,646,713 Class B shares.
  • Joe Gebbia owns 22.9% of the company with 5,113,865 Class A shares and 58,023,452 Class B shares.

Origin Story

  • In 2007, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia saw an opportunity to make extra income to pay their rent when a large international design conference was about to be hosted in San Francisco.
  • They built a website called AirBedandBreakfast.com and rented air beds to three designers attending the conference, realizing the potential of offering a local experience to travelers.
  • Nathan Blecharczyk later joined the co-founders to focus on the platform’s user experience and solve the challenge of making strangers comfortable staying in each other’s homes.
  • Key elements like host and guest profiles, integrated messaging, two-way reviews, and secure payments were added to the platform over the years.

Airbnb’s Business Model

  • Today, Airbnb operates as a platform that connects hosts and guests.
  • The platform charges guests a service fee between 5% and 15% of the reservation, while the commission from hosts is generally 3%.
  • Airbnb has grown into an entrepreneurial platform, enabling an ecosystem of businesses and guests.
  • In 2022, Airbnb enabled over $63 billion in gross booking value, with an average service fee of 13.3%, for over 390 million nights and experiences booked.

Revenue Generation

  • As a peer-to-peer platform, Airbnb collects a fee from both hosts and guests once the transaction is completed.
  • For example, on a $100 booking per night set by a host, Airbnb might collect a $3 hosting fee from the host and increase the price for the guest to $116, collecting $12 as a guest fee and taxes for the remaining amount.
  • In 2022, Airbnb generated $63.2 billion in gross booking value, with an average revenue per booking of $161 and an average service fee of 13.3%.

Related Visual Stories To Airbnb

Who Owns Airbnb

who-owns-airbnb
Airbnb’s founders primarily own Airbnb: Brian Chesky, with over 76 million Class B shares, which give him 33..4% of ownership and 30.6% of voting power; Nathan Blecharczyk, with over 64 million Class B shares, which give him 29.4% and 26.9% of voting power; and Joe Gebbia, which has nearly 47 million of Class B shares which give him 21..5% ownership and almost 27% of voting power. Other institutional investors comprise Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, and The Vanguard Group.

Airbnb Business Model

airbnb-business-model
Airbnb is a platform business model making money by charging guests a service fee between 5% and 15% of the reservation, while the commission from hosts is generally 3%. For instance, on a $100 booking per night set by a host, Airbnb might make as much as $15, split between host and guest fees. 

Why Is It Called Airbnb?

Why Is It Called Airbnb?
Airbnb was initially called Airbedandbreakfast, as the main idea behind the starting of the company was to rent air mattresses in their apartment, as San Francisco filled up due to various conferences, to make some money to pay back the rent. The Aibnb’s founders noticed this as they were designers. And a design conference (IDSA / ICSID) was about to happen in 2007; they launched Airbedandbreakfast as a service offering “Air Bed and Breakfast” to other designers coming to town who could not find available rooms in a hotel. Thus from there, the initial name. Yet, as Airbnb joined the Winter 2009 batch of the popular accelerator, YC, Paul Graham, founder of YC, suggested the founders change the name from Airbedandbreakfast to Airbnb – before demo day – as the name sounded better.

Airbnb Revenue Model

airbnb-revenue-model
Airbnb is a two-sided marketplace where hosts and guests transact via its booking platform. Thus, Airbnb makes money by charging a fee on top of hosts and guests when a transaction goes through. For instance, in 2023, Airbnb generated $ 9.92 billion in transaction rates, with an average take rate of 13.5%.

Airbnb Competitors

airbnb-competitors
The Airbnb story began in 2008 when two friends shared their accommodation with three travelers looking for a place to stay. Just over a decade later, it is estimated that the company now accounts for over 20% of the vacation rental industry. As a travel platform, Airbnb competes with other brands like Booking.com, VRBO, FlipKey, and given its massive amount of traffic from Google. Also, platforms like Google Travel can be considered potential competitors able to cannibalize part of Airbnb’s market.

Airbnb Business Model Economics

airbnb-unit-economics
As a peer-to-peer platform, Airbnb will collect a fee from both key players once the transaction between host and guest goes through. For example, from a $100 booking per night set by the host, Airbnb might collect $3 as a hosting fee. At the same time, it might increase the price for the guest to $116 ($16 above the price set by the host) to collect its guest fees of $12 and taxes for the remaining amount. In 2023, on $73.25 billion in gross bookings, the company reported revenues of $9.92 billion, a record of $4.79 billion in net income, and 13.5%, in take rates.

Airbnb Take Rates

how-much-does-airbnb-take
In 2023, Airbnb reported a 13.5% take rate (analysis by FourWeekMBA). Airbnb reported a 13.3% take rate in 2022 and 12.8% in 2021. The company’s take rate is a critical metric that Airbnb tracks to evaluate the financial health of its platform.

Airbnb Value Per Booking

airbnb-value-per-booking
In 2023, Airbnb generated an average value per booking of $163.51, compared to 2022, when Airbnb generated an average value per booking of $161, compared to $156 in 2021 and $124 in 2020.

Airbnb Financials

airbnb-financials
Airbnb generated $73.25B in gross bookings, $9.92B in net revenues, $4.79B in net profits, and $3.84 in free cash flows.

Airbnb Hosts Number

airbnb-hosts-number
In 2023, Airbnb had over 5 million hosts on the platform, which generated 7.7 million listings in the same period; Airbnb had 6.6 million active listings, compared to 6 million in 2021.

Storyboarding

storyboarding-business
A storyboard is a linear sequence of illustrations used in animation to develop a broader story. A storyboard process is now used also in business to understand and map customers’ experience and enable the growth of the company using that process.

Airbnb Arbitrage

airbnb-arbitrage
Airbnb arbitrage is a business model where the renter of a house or apartment sub-lets the property to Airbnb users. This is a model where the Airbnb arbitrageur can transform a long-term rental, with the main property owner, into a short-term rental, with higher rates and margins.

ADU Market

adu-market
An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a term used to describe a secondary house or apartment located on the same plot of land as a larger, primary place of residence. This has become an industry for its own sake, with the potential to become the next trillion-dollar industry.

Samara Business Model

samara
Samara is a manufacturer of prefab accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that can be installed and operational in a matter of hours. It started as an R&D unit of Airbnb in 2016. And it eventually was spun off and run by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, who now runs it full-time.

Related Tech Ownership Case Studies

Who Owns OpenAI

who-owns-openai
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory that transitioned into a for-profit organization in 2019, which comprised an entity called OpenAI LP and the non-profit parent foundation OpenAI. The lab, which was founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and various others, has a core focus on the development of friendly AI that benefits society as a whole. Yet now has primarily evolved as a capped-for-profit entity with an exclusive commercial license to Microsoft.

Who Owns Airbnb

who-owns-airbnb
Its co-founders primarily own Airbnb: Brian Chesky, with 76,407,686 Class B shares, which gives him 29.1% of ownership; Nathan Blecharczyk, with 232,306 Class A and 64,646,713 Class B, which give him 25.3%; and Joe Gebbia, which has 5,113,865 Class A and 58,023,452 Class B, which give him 22.9% ownership.

Who Owns Google

who-owns-google
Google is primarily owned by its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who have more than 51% voting power. Other individual shareholders comprise John Doerr (1.5%), a venture capitalist and early investor in Google, and CEO, Sundar Pichai. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has 4.2% voting power. The most prominent institutional shareholders are mutual funds BlackRock and The Vanguard Group, with 2.7% and 3.1%, respectively.

Who Owns Facebook

who-owns-facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is the largest shareholder in the company. Zuckerberg retains ownership and control of the company. Like Google, Facebook has issued two common stocks, Class A and Class B. The holders of Class B common stocks are entitled to ten votes per share, and holders of our Class A common stocks are entitled to one vote per share. Mark Zuckerberg has a voting power of 56.9%; he’s the primary decision-maker. Other individual investors comprise Sheryl Sandberg, Christopher Cox, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.

Who Owns Apple

who-owns-apple
As of 2023, major Apple shareholders comprised Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway with 5.73% of the company’s stock (valued at over $130 billion). Followed by other individual shareholders like Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, with about 3.3 million shares, Artur Levinson, chairman of Apple, with over 4.5 million shares, and others.

Who Owns Amazon

who-owns-amazon
With 64,588,418 shares, Jeff Bezos is the major individual investor. Owning 12.7% of the company. Other top individual investors comprise Amazon’s CEO Andy Jessy, with 94,729 shares. Top institutional investors include mutual funds like The Vanguard Group (6.6% ownership) and BlackRock (5.7% ownership). 

Who Owns Microsoft

who-owns-microsoft
Major shareholders comprise co-founder Bill Gates, who stepped down from the company’s board in 2020, which is why these shares are no longer publicly reported. In 2019, Gates still owned a stake of 103 million stocks, which accounted for 1.34% of the company’s ownership (worth over $23 billion in January 2023). Other individual shareholders comprise Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO, Brad Smith (former president), Jean-Philippe Courtois (EVP), and Amy Hood (former CFO).

Who Owns Tesla

who-owns-tesla
By 2022, most of Tesla’s shares are still owned by Elon Musk, among the company’s co-founders and the CEO. Elon Musk is the top individual investor, with a 23.5% stake in the company, equivalent to over 244 million shares. Musk is followed by Lawrence Ellison (founder of Oracle), with a 1.5% company stake. Ellison also sits on Tesla’s board. And Antonio Gracias, among the company’s first investors, has over 1.6 million shares. Other institutional investors and mutual funds like The Vanguard Group (6%), Blackrock (5.1%), and Capital Ventures International also have a good chunk of the company’s stocks.

Who Owns PayPal

who-owns-paypal
PayPal was first founded in 1998; it was called Confinity (among its founders was Peter Thiel); later, it merged with X.com, its major competitor, founded by Elon Musk (which would become known for other companies like Tesla and SpaceX). From this merger, PayPal was born. In 2002, PayPal was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion. eBay spun off PayPal in 2015, which would be listed as an independent entity. Today PayPal owns brands like Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, and iZettle.

Who Owns Netflix

who-owns-netflix
Netflix’s largest individual shareholder is Reed Hastings, co-founder, and former CEO of the company, now Chairperson of Netflix, with a 1.7% stake, valued at over $2.4 billion in February 2023. Other significant individual shareholders comprise Jay C. Hoag, the company’s directors since 1999, and Ted Sarandos, former chief content officer and now Chief Executive Officer of Netflix. Major institutional shareholders comprise The Vanguard Group (7.55% ownership), BlackRock (6.58% ownership), and Capital Research Global Investments (5.84% ownership).

Who Owns TikTok

who-owns-tiktok
TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese internet technology company owning several content platforms worldwide (Douyin, Toutiao, Xigua Video, Helo, Lark, Babe). Bytedance passed the $300 billion private market valuation by 2022, making around $58 billion in revenue in 2022, over $4 billion from TikTok.

Who Owns YouTube

who-owns-youtube
Acquired by Google, in 2006, for $1.65 billion, YouTube is now worth many times over. In 2022, YouTube generated over $29 billion in revenue from advertising alone. YouTube is part of Google (now named Alphabet), and as such, it is owned by main Google’s Alphabet shareholders and is one of the fastest-growing segments for the company.

Who Owns Twitter

who-owns-twitter
As of April 25th, 2022, Elon Musk tried to take over Twitter. Musk tried to purchase the company at $54.20 per share, or about $44 billion. The deal finally closed by October 27th, 2022, and Elon Musk became the largest shareholder.

Who Owns Spotify

who-owns-spotify
The multi-billion music streaming company Spotify is primarily owned by its founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. As of 2023, Daniel Ek has 16.5% ownership of ordinary shares and 31.7% of the voting power. Martin Lorentzon has 10.9% of ordinary shares and 42.6% of the voting power. Another key shareholder is Baillie Gifford & Co, a Scottish-based money management firm, followed by Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, and Tencent.

Who Owns Nvidia

who-owns-nvidia
The top individual shareholder of NVIDIA is Jen-Hsun Huang, founder, and CEO of the company, with 87,521,722 shares giving him 3.50% ownership. Followed by Mark A. Stevens, venture capitalist and a partner at S-Cubed Capital, who was part of the NVIDIA board in 2008 and previously served as a director from 1993 to 2006, with 6,258,803 shares. Institutional investors comprise The Vanguard Group, Inc, with 196,015,550, owning 7.83%. BlackRock, Inc., with 177,858,484, owns 7.10%. And FMR LLC (Fidelity Institutional Asset Management) with 158,039,922, owning 6.31%.

Who Owns Uber

who-owns-uber
Uber’s principal individual shareholders comprise Yasir Al-Rumayyan (3.73%), the Governor of the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Dara Khosrowshahi, the founder and CEO of Uber. There is Morgan Stanley, with 5.12% ownership among the top institutional investors.

Who Owns Shopify

who-owns-shopify
The founder and CEO of Shopify, Tobias Lütke, owned or controlled 7,891,852 Class B multiple voting shares and 5,250 Class A subordinate voting shares, representing approximately 33.8% of the aggregate voting power attached to all of the Company’s outstanding voting shares. Another key stakeholder is John H. Phillips, an angel investor who placed an early bet on Shopify.

Who Owns Roblox

who-owns-roblox
Roblox is owned by David Baszucki and Gregory Baszucki, with a 2.3% and 2.6% stake, respectively. Anthony lee, managing partner at Altos Ventures, with a 15.3% stake.

Who Owns Twitch

who-owns-twitch
In 2014, Twitch was bought by Amazon for $970 million. Therefore Twitch is part of Amazon, comprising other subsidiaries bought over the years, like Audible, Whole Foods, and Zappos (in total, Amazon has 12 subsidiaries). Therefore, as of 2020, Twitch is a multi-billion dollar company, making money primarily via advertising through its video streaming platform (creators use Twitch today across many other verticals).

Who Owns Zoom

who-owns-zoom
Zoom’s principal private shareholders comprise Eric S. Yuan, a Chinese-American billionaire businessman that founded Zoom. Dan Scheinman, board member and angel investor in Zoom since the start, and Santiago Subotovsky, also an early investor in Zoom. Zoom follows a freeterprise business model where free accounts are channeled into enterprise customers.

Who Owns Activision

who-owns-activision
In one of the largest deals in the business world, Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion transaction. Making Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. However, given the size of the deal, this is still under the scrutiny of regulators who need to approve it. If the deal goes through, Microsoft will become among the largest gaming companies in the world.

Who Owns Pixar

who-owns-pixar
Pixar is owned by The Walt Disney Company, which acquired it in 2006 in a $7.4 billion deal. Today Pixar is part of the Disney Empire. The principal shareholders of Disney comprise Robert Iger, CEO of the company, and institutional investors like The Vanguard Group and Blackrock.

Who Owns Salesforce

who-owns-salesforce
Marc Benioff, Co-CEO of Salesforce, is the primary individual shareholder, with 3% of the company’s stock. Other main individual shareholders comprise Parker Harris, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, and Bret Taylor, former co-CEO. Major institutional shareholders include The Vanguard Group, Fidelity, and BlackRock.

Who Owns Slack

who-owns-slack
In a $27.7 billion deal in 2021, Salesforce’s finalized the acquisition of Slack, which was integrated into Salesforce. Today Slack is still a product mostly independently managed by Salesforce, which incorporated some of its features within its platform. Entrepreneur Marc Benioff primarily owns salesforce.

Who Owns Snapchat

who-owns-snapchat
Evan Spiegel and Robert Cornelius Murphy are the co-founders and, respectively, CEO and CTO of Snapchat. Evan Spiegel owns 3% of Class A stocks, 25.7% of Class B stocks, and 53.4% of Class C stocks for a 53.2% voting power, whereas Robert Murphy owns 6% of Class A stocks, 25.7% of Class B stocks, and 46.6% of Class C stocks for a 46.6% voting power. Snapchat runs an advertising-based business model.

Who Owns Coinbase

who-owns-coinbase
Main individual shareholders comprise co-founders Brian Armstrong (59.5% voting power), Frederick Ernest Ehrsam (26.1% voting power), and other individual investors such as Surojit Chatterjee (current CPO “poached” from Google), Paul Grewal (former magistrate who joined Coinbase as Chief Legal Officer), and venture capitalists who early on invested on Coinbase, like Marc Andreessen (founder of a16z) and Fred Wilson (founder of Union Square Ventures), together with venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Ribbit Capital and Union Square Ventures.

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