Early Life and Career
Steve Chen was born on August 18, 1978, in Taipei, Taiwan. He immigrated to the United States with his family when he was eight years old and grew up in Illinois. Chen attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied computer science.
After college, Chen worked at a number of tech companies, including PayPal, where he met Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. In 2005, the three friends founded YouTube, a website that allowed users to upload and share their own videos.
Success of YouTube
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.
Chen served as the Chief Technology Officer of YouTube until November 2008, when he was promoted to the role of Chief Operating Officer. He played a key role in the development and expansion of YouTube, and the website became one of the most popular in the world, with billions of users and billions of hours of content viewed every day.
Post-YouTube Career
After leaving YouTube, Chen co-founded a new company called AVOS Systems, which focused on developing internet and mobile products. In 2013, AVOS Systems acquired Delicious, a social bookmarking service, and relaunched it as a content discovery platform. In 2014, AVOS Systems was acquired by MixBit, a video editing app co-founded by Chad Hurley.
Chen is also an investor and advisor to several other companies, including Humin and Arrayspace. In addition to his business ventures, he is known for his philanthropic efforts, including his support for education and the arts.