Nathan Blecharczyk

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Nathan Blecharczyk
Blecharczyk in 2022
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Nationality (legal)American
EducationHarvard University (BS)
OccupationChief strategy officer of Airbnb
Known forCo-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb
SpouseElizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
Children2

Nathan Blecharczyk (born 1983) is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, and chairman of Airbnb China.[1] Blecharczyk was also the company's first chief technology officer.[2] Blecharczyk is the 203rd richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $9.4 billion,[3] mostly due to his ownership of 62 million shares of Airbnb.[4]

Early life and education[edit]

Blecharczyk was born in 1983, the son of Sheila (née Underwood) and Paul Steven Blecharczyk, who is Polish-American. His ancestors came to the United States around the time of World War I.[5][6] He grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston Latin Academy, graduating in 2001.[7] During high school, he made money by creating a software business.[8] His web-hosting business provided services to spammers and was once listed on the The Spamhaus Project "Registry of Known Spam Operators (ROKSO)" which lists the top spamming services.[9]

He continued writing programs while attending Harvard University in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, and made enough money to pay his tuition before abandoning his web-hosting business to focus on his studies in 2002.[10] He was also on the business staff of The Harvard Crimson during his time at Harvard College.[11]

Career[edit]

Blecharczyk began his career as an engineer at OPNET in 2005. He was a lead developer at Batiq in 2007. Blecharczyk moved into an apartment with Brian Chesky after seeing an ad on Craigslist.[12] In 2008, Blecharczyk partnered with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia to found Airbnb, and was the company's first chief technology officer and coded the company's original website using Ruby on Rails.[10] Later that year, after failing to raise funding, the founders bought mass quantities of cereal, designed packaging branded as '"Obama O's" and "Cap'n McCain's" cereal to sell at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Originally intended as a marketing ploy, the company sold enough cereal to raise $30,000, and attracted the attention of Paul Graham, who invited the founders to the January 2009 winter training session of his startup incubator, Y Combinator, which provided them with training and $20,000 in funding in exchange for a 6% interest in the company.[13] In the early years of the company, Airbnb overcame attempts to ban the service in New York City and San Francisco and eventually agreed to pay hotel taxes.[14]

Blecharczyk oversaw Airbnb's 2015 expansion into Cuba.

In early 2017, Blecharczyk transitioned to chief strategy officer at Airbnb.[2] Blecharczyk was announced as the chairman of Airbnb China, also known as Aibiying, in October 2017.[1]

In summer 2019, after Sean M. Joyce, then a senior Airbnb official, raised concerns after Chinese government officials asked Airbnb for enhanced data sharing in China Blecharczyk responded that the company was not there to "promote American values."[15]

Personal life[edit]

Blecharczyk resides in San Francisco, California.[14] He is married to Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk, a neonatologist.[16][17] They have two children; Blecharczyk has been a supporter of parental leave for fathers.[18]

Philanthropy[edit]

Blecharczyk joined Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' 'The Giving Pledge', a select group of billionaires who have committed to give the majority of their wealth away.[19]

In 2019, he donated $1 million to his alma mater, Boston Latin Academy.[7][20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ting, Deanna (October 20, 2017). "Airbnb Co-Founder Nathan Blecharczyk Named Chairman of Airbnb China". Skift.
  2. ^ a b Stone, Brad; Zaleski, Olivia (January 26, 2017). "Airbnb Enters the Land of Profitability". Bloomberg News.
  3. ^ "Nathan Blecharczyk". Forbes.
  4. ^ "Airbnb, Inc. 2023 Form 14-A Proxy Statement". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. April 19, 2024.
  5. ^ "Brattleboro Reformer: "Floyd Underwood"". Brattleboro Reformer. August 21, 2003 – via Legacy.com.
  6. ^ @nathanblec (September 30, 2015). "@JacekBereznicki yes I'm half polish; my ancestors came over around the time of World War I" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ a b Cohan, Alexi; Cotter, Sean Phillip (October 21, 2019). "Boston Latin Academy gifted $1 mil from alumnus, Airbnb c0-founder". Boston Herald.
  8. ^ Salter, Jessica (September 7, 2012). "Airbnb: The Story Behind the $1.3Bn Room-Letting Website". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. ^ Tate, Ryan (October 27, 2011). "The Seedy, Spammy Past of Airbnb's Co-Founder". Gawker.
  10. ^ a b Stone, Brad (January 26, 2017). "The $99 Billion Idea". Bloomberg News.
  11. ^ "Founders Of Top Startup Companies And The Universities Where They Graduated". University Herald. November 27, 2019.
  12. ^ Cocozza, Paula (March 4, 2016). "Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk: 'A body? It's unusual, but it wasn't as if it was in the front yard'". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Townsend, Tess (October 19, 2016). "How Airbnb Got Out of The "Trough of Sorrow"". Chicago Tribune.
  14. ^ a b CONRAD, JENNIFER (July 14, 2023). "Airbnb's Nathan Blecharczyk Is Leaning Back Into the Company's Scrappy Roots". Inc.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Volz, Dustin; Grind, Kirsten (November 20, 2020). "Airbnb Executive Resigned Last Year Over Chinese Request for More Data Sharing". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660.
  16. ^ "Stanford medicine: "Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk". Stanford University.
  17. ^ Goldberg, Eleanor (June 2, 2016). "Airbnb Co-Founders Commit Half Their Fortunes to Charity". HuffPost.
  18. ^ BLECHARCZYK, NATHAN (June 18, 2017). "Why Fathers Need Parental Leave Too". Fortune.
  19. ^ GALLAGHER, LEIGH (June 1, 2016). "Airbnb Cofounders Join Buffett and Gates' 'Giving Pledge'". Fortune.
  20. ^ "Airbnb Co-Founder Donates $1M To Boston Latin Academy". CBS Boston. October 21, 2019.
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