YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim. The idea for the website came about in early 2005, when Hurley and Chen were trying to share a video of a dinner party that they had attended. They realized that the process of uploading and sharing the video was cumbersome and time-consuming, and they began to think about creating a more user-friendly platform for video sharing.
In February of that year, Hurley and Chen purchased the domain name “YouTube.com” and began working on the website. They recruited Karim, who had previously worked with them at PayPal, to help develop the site.
The three founders initially funded the development of YouTube themselves, working out of a small office in San Mateo, California. They used inexpensive servers and open-source software to keep costs low and launched the website in April 2005.
At first, YouTube was a simple platform that allowed users to upload and share their own videos. The site quickly gained popularity, and by the end of the year, it was receiving millions of views per day.
In October 2006, Google announced that it was acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. The acquisition was completed in November of that year, and YouTube became a subsidiary of Google.
Since its inception, YouTube has continued to evolve and expand. It has become a major platform for hosting and streaming all kinds of video content, including music videos, movies, TV shows, educational videos, and more. It has also become a major source of revenue for creators, who can earn money through advertising, sponsorships, and other partnerships.
Today, YouTube is one of the most popular websites in the world, with billions of users and billions of hours of content viewed every day. It has revolutionized the way that people watch and share videos online, and it continues to be a major force in the entertainment and media industry.