Jawed Karim is an American internet entrepreneur and software engineer who boasts a net worth of 300 million dollars. He made most of his fortune, mostly through the sale of YouTube to Google in 2006. Jawed Karim was the first person to post a video on YouTube. His inaugural video, Me at the Zoo, is 19 seconds long and has over 362 million views as of May 2025.
Background
Jawed Karim was born in East Germany to Naimul Karim and Christine. Given that his father was Bangladeshi, Karim and his family experienced a lot of racism. As such, the family decided to move to the United States, settling in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in the early 1990s.
By the time Karim and his family arrived in the US, he was old enough for high school. As such, he joined Saint Paul Central High School, graduating in 1997. After his high school education, Jawed Karim proceeded to the University of Illinois for his undergraduate studies in computer science. At some point, Karim left school for a while and sought a job to cater to his financial needs. He joined PayPal, and it was during this time that he met Chad Hurley and Steve Chen.
PayPal
Leaving school for a while to work at PayPal might have seemed ridiculous, but it was the right decision. It was during this time that he met Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, who were vital in the founding of YouTube.
Steve, Chad, and Jawed met for the first time in 2002, but it was after three years that they began thinking of starting YouTube. In 2005, they all left PayPal, and they sued to meet in a local coffee shop and share some business ideas. It was during one of these meetings that Jawed came up with the idea of creating a platform where people could share videos.
Co-Founding YouTube
Jawed Karim came up with the idea of starting a video-sharing platform after failing to access Janet Jackson’s video at the 2004 Super Bowl function. As such, he pitched the idea to Steve Chen and Chad Hurley. On February 14, 2005, the trio bought a domain, and two months later, they launched YouTube. On the day of its launch, Jawed Karim posted a video that has over 362 million views as of today.
After co-founding YouTube, Jawed Karim did not want to play a major role in the company. As such, he took an advisor role and went back to school. A year later, Google acquired YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars. As a minor shareholder, Jawed received 137000 shares, equivalent to 65 million dollars.
Other Ventures
Besides YouTube, Jawed Karim has had other investments. In 2008, he partnered with Kevin Hartz and Keith Rabois and launched Youniversity Ventures, later called YVentures. Through this venture capital, they have invested in various companies, including Palantir, Reddit, and Eventbrite.
In general, Jawed Karim made his fortune mainly through the YouTube sale. After that, he ventured into other investments that have contributed to his overall fortune.
