YouTube is owned by Google, which is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.Google bought YouTube in November 2006 in an all-stock deal that its accounts value at $1.194 billion, and YouTube has been part of Google ever since; it has never belonged to Meta. Alphabet is listed, but its co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin held about 52.7% of the voting power as of 31 December 2025, through Class B shares that carry 10 votes each.
On 13 November 2006 Google issued 3,217,560 Class A shares to YouTube's stockholders. Google's accounts put the purchase price at $1.194 billion, of which $1.135 billion was goodwill.
02
Alphabet sits on top since 2015
A holding company reorganisation in 2015 made Alphabet the successor issuer to Google. YouTube is reported inside Google Services, next to Search, Android and Chrome.
03
Two founders control the votes
Class B shares carry 10 votes, Class A one, and Class C none. Page and Brin owned about 89.3% of the Class B stock as of 31 December 2025.
04
Two ways it makes money
Advertising is reported as its own line, YouTube ads. YouTube Premium, Music, TV and NFL Sunday Ticket sit inside Google's subscriptions, platforms and devices line and are not broken out.
What changed in 2025-26
Ads keep growing
YouTube ads revenue rose to $40.4 billion in 2025 from $36.1 billion in 2024; Alphabet credits direct response ads first, then brand ads. In the second quarter of 2026 it reached $11.1 billion, against $9.8 billion a year earlier.
AI tools for creators
In January 2026 YouTube CEO Neal Mohan wrote that more than 1M channels used its AI creation tools daily in December 2025. Plans for 2026 include making a Short with your own likeness and building games from a text prompt.
Labels, likeness and 'AI slop'
Creators must disclose realistic altered or synthetic content, and content made with YouTube’s own AI products is labelled. YouTube says it is extending Content ID into tools that let creators manage the use of their likeness, and is using its spam systems against low-quality AI videos.
A creator economy at scale
YouTube says it paid over $100 billion to creators, artists and media companies in the four years to early 2026, and that Shorts averages 200 billion daily views. More than 20 million users asked its AI Ask tool about videos in December 2025.
YouTube inside Alphabet
Page and Brin
What it isCo-founders, Class B holders
Sourced factAbout 52.7% of voting power (31 Dec 2025)
Sourced factInside 'subscriptions, platforms and devices'; not disclosed separately
What it means for you
Investors: track the YouTube ads line in each Alphabet quarterly filing, and remember subscriptions sit elsewhere.
Advertisers: buy YouTube through the same Google ad tools you use for Search, and test direct response formats, which led 2025 growth.
Creators: build several income lines (ads, Shopping, brand deals, fan funding) rather than relying on ad share alone.
Anyone publishing AI video: disclose realistic synthetic content before you upload, or risk labels and removals.
Rights holders: register your work and likeness in YouTube's Content ID based tools as they roll out.
The Business Engineer lens
YouTube is Alphabet’s second distribution engine: Search captures intent, YouTube captures attention, and both are sold through the same ad system. As AI answers more questions directly, the attention side and the subscriptions on top of it carry more of the weight.
The complete explainer, cleaned up and reformatted for mobile.
In short
Google, part of Alphabet Inc., has owned 100% of YouTube since November 2006. Meta has never owned YouTube.Google paid in its own stock: its 2006 annual report puts the purchase price at $1.194 billion (the deal was announced at a headline value of $1.65 billion). YouTube’s advertising alone brought in $40.4 billion in 2025.
Correction (10 Oct 2026): an earlier version of this page said Alphabet reorganised YouTube into three divisions in 2026 and that YouTube generates $42.8 billion a year. We found no filing or company announcement supporting the reorganisation. YouTube’s figures now come from Alphabet’s earnings releases (YouTube ads: $40.4 billion in 2025).
How we source: figures on this page come from the company’s own filings (SEC 10-K, 10-Q, prospectus and earnings releases, or its annual report), with the period stated next to each number; outside estimates appear only labelled, with their source and date. Last refreshed October 2026. Our methodology.
YouTube ad revenue only; YouTube’s subscriptionrevenue (YouTube Premium, Music, TV) is reported inside Alphabet’s ‘subscriptions, platforms and devices’ line and is not disclosed separately.
Who owns YouTube?
YouTube is owned by Google LLC, which is owned by Alphabet Inc. Google acquired YouTube in November 2006 in a stock-for-stock deal: on 13 November 2006 it issued 3,217,560 Class A shares to YouTube’s stockholders (Google 10-K for 2006). The deal was announced at about $1.65 billion; in Google’s accounts the purchase price was $1.194 billion, almost all of it goodwill.
Did Meta buy YouTube?
No. Meta (Facebook) has never owned YouTube. The confusion is common because both are giant ad-funded platforms, but YouTube has been part of Google since 2006, years before Google reorganised under Alphabet in 2015.
Who controls Alphabet?
Alphabet is public, but its co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin control most of the votes through Class B shares, which carry ten votes each. According to Alphabet’s 2026 proxy statement, Page holds 46.5% and Brin 42.9% of the Class B stock, giving them 27.4% and 25.3% of the total voting power.
YouTube ownership: timeline
Feb 2005
YouTube founded
By Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim.
Oct 2006
Google agrees to buy YouTube
Announced at about $1.65 billion in stock.
13 Nov 2006
Deal completed
3,217,560 Google Class A shares issued; $1.194B purchase price in the accounts (10-K 2006).
2015
Alphabet created
Google, including YouTube, becomes a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
2025
YouTube ads: $40.4B
Up from $36.1B in 2024 (Alphabet earnings releases).
The Business Engineer view
Arguably the best acquisition in tech
Google paid about $1.2 billion in stock for a loss-making video site. In 2025 YouTube’s advertising alone brought in $40.4 billion, before counting subscriptions. The deal worked because Google could plug YouTube into the ad system it already had: the same advertisers, auctions and data that power Search.
Structurally, YouTube is now a second distribution engine for Alphabet: search captures intent, YouTube captures attention, and both are sold through the same ad machine. That diversification matters as AI changes how people search.
Background, from our earlier coverage:
History of the Google-YouTube deal
Acquired by Google, in 2006, for $1.65 billion, YouTube is now worth many times over. In 2023, YouTube generated over $31 billion in revenue from advertising alone.
In a video dated October 10, 2006, Steve Chen and Chad Hurley officialized the news of the acquisition of YouTube, from Google, for $1.65 billion.
The third co-founder, Jawed Karim, was already out.
And yet the three co-founders all became multi-millionaires, making probably $300 million each for Chen and Hurley and around $66 million for Karim.
At the time, Google was trying to launch its video service called Google Video.
Yet, Google, while already a tech giant back then, could not figure out how to make Google Video as successful as YouTube.
YouTube was indeed a rocket ship, and what concerned them most, the Google’s founders, Brin and Page, was that YouTube was also used as a search engine for video.
With video becoming a dominant format for the Internet by 2006, Google was quite concerned about being unable to keep up with YouTube’s growing quickly.
YouTube, on his side, was executed exceptionally well, backed by some of the prominent Silicon Valley VCs. Indeed, Sequoia backed YouTube through Roelof Botha.
Botha was CFO at PayPal before he joined Sequoia. He was a PayPal Mafia member.
The YouTube co-founders, looking for money to finance the operations that, since that point, had been running on Chen’s credit cards, turned to Botha, which they knew from PayPal.
Indeed, YouTube’s co-founders were former PayPal team members.
After PayPal had been acquired by eBay, Chen, Hurley, and Karim left to start their own company, which would later become YouTube.
By November 2005, Google, through Larry Page, had already started to seriously look into acquiring YouTube:
Thus, by February 7, 2006, the acquisition of YouTube by Google gets on the CEO’s desk as a priority.
In an initial consideration, Google is considering an offer for YouTube of $50 million.
We were in February 2006, YouTube was burning cash, it wasn’t generating revenues, and yet Google would eventually offer much more to secure it.
However, by February 2006, Google kept looking into ways to partner up, without buying YouTube.
In fact, when Google first proposed the deal to YouTube, things didn’t move forward, as YouTube’s founding team was looking for “the myspace deal.”
In fact, at the time, back in July 2005, News Corp., the company – at the time – owned by the business shark Rupert Murdoch, had acquired MySpace for $580 million in cash, setting an incredible precedent.
For Google’s executive team, that was way too expensive.
In fact, at the time, Google thought it could still figure out videos with its Google Video.
Yet, as months went by, Google Video didn’t gain as much traction as the executive team thought.
And as Yahoo showed up, things got way more interesting.
Google’s executive team was an incredible deal-maker, driven by its co-founder’s Page and Brin.
Meaning they knew when the timing was right to close a deal before a competitor like Yahoo stole it.
Eventually, the deal was closed at $1.65 billion, and YouTube became part of Google.
In fact, a key thing to understand, integrating YouTube wasn’t an easy fit, and while Google has managed to pull this off, this could have gone wrong in many possible ways.
Had YouTube continued without Google, the question is whether the company would have survived, given the many copyright issues it faced back then.
Indeed, YouTube had severe copyright issues, which Google had to solve early on.
In addition, Google has also successfully transitioned YouTube from a video search engine to a discovery video platform (more similar to TikTok than Google).
Today YouTube is definitely one of the most successful media platforms on the Internet and the only one able to successfully beat TikTok at its own game!
Today YouTube has become a successful advertising machine.
YouTube is one of the most popular sites on earth, with over 33 billion visits in March 2023.
YouTtub is very popular worldwide, even though over 20% of its traffic comes fro the US.
The most interesting aspect of YouTube is its popularity among young cohorts. People between 18-34 as the ones that most use the platform.
Key Highlights of the Google-YouTube Deal:
Acquisition Price: Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, making the three co-founders multi-millionaires.
Google Video vs. YouTube: Google was trying to launch its own video service called Google Video, but it couldn’t match YouTube’s success.
Concerns of Google’s Founders: Google’s founders, Brin and Page, were concerned about YouTube’s rapid growth and its use as a video search engine.
Backing from Silicon Valley VCs: YouTube was backed by prominent investors, including Sequoia Capital.
Former PayPal Team: The YouTube co-founders were former PayPal team members who left to start their own venture.
Initial Offer and Negotiations: Google initially considered an offer of $50 million for YouTube but eventually closed the deal at $1.65 billion.
YouTube’s Value and Revenue: By 2022, YouTube generated over $29 billion in advertising revenues, making it a significant contributor to Google’s business.
Integration Challenges: Integrating YouTube into Google was not an easy fit, and Google had to address copyright issues and transition YouTube into a successful discovery video platform.
YouTube’s Business Model: YouTube generates revenue through advertising and subscription revenues, with its advertising network being part of Google Ads.
Popularity and Global Reach: YouTube is one of the most popular sites globally, with over 33 billion visits in March 2023, and it attracts a significant young audience, especially those aged 18-34.
What to watch
YouTube ad growth in each Alphabet quarterly release
Subscription growth (Premium, Music, YouTube TV), not reported separately
Competition for viewing time from TikTok and streaming services
Frequently asked questions
Who owns YouTube?
Google LLC, which is part of Alphabet Inc. Google has owned YouTube since November 2006.
Did Meta buy YouTube?
No. Meta (Facebook) has never owned YouTube.
How much did Google pay for YouTube?
The deal was announced at about $1.65 billion in Google stock. Google’s 2006 annual report records the purchase price at $1.194 billion, paid by issuing 3,217,560 Class A shares.
How much money does YouTube make?
YouTube’s advertising revenue was $40.4 billion in 2025, up from $36.1 billion in 2024. Subscription revenue is not disclosed separately.
Who controls Alphabet?
Co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, through Class B shares with ten votes each: 27.4% and 25.3% of the total voting power (2026 proxy).
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
