Early Life and Education
Jawed Karim was born on January 1, 1979, in Merseburg, East Germany. His father, Naimul Karim, is a Bangladesh-born physicist, and his mother, Christine Karim, is a German scientist. Karim has a younger sister, Arifa Karim.
In 1992, Karim and his family moved to Neuss, Germany, where he attended the Gesamtschule Grundschule Königshof. In 1997, he moved to the United States to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied computer science.
Career and YouTube
After completing his degree, Karim worked at a number of tech companies, including PayPal, where he met Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. In 2005, the three friends founded YouTube, a website that allowed users to upload and share their own videos.
YouTube quickly gained popularity, and by the end of 2005, it was receiving millions of views per day. In October 2006, Google announced that it was acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock, and the acquisition was completed in November of that year.
Karim served as the first Chief Technology Officer of YouTube until 2007, when he left the company to pursue other interests. He remained an advisor to YouTube and continued to be involved in the tech industry, serving as an angel investor and advisor to several startups.
Personal Life and Philanthropy
In addition to his business pursuits, Karim is known for his philanthropic efforts. He has supported various charitable causes and organizations, including education and the arts. He is also an avid collector of contemporary art and has donated artwork to museums and galleries around the world.
Karim has largely avoided the spotlight and has generally kept a low profile, despite his success as a co-founder of one of the most popular websites in the world. He has stated that he values his privacy and prefers to focus on his work and personal interests rather than on media attention.