Brian Joseph Chesky is a young American entrepreneur, best known for being the co-founder of the now world-wide established internet hospitality exchange service Airbnb, founded in August 2008. Airbnb operates in 34,000 cities and more than 190 countries world-wide. Chesky serves as the CEO of Airbnb and in 2015, was named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People” of the year.
During the early years of his career, Chesky worked in the capacity of an Industrial strategist and designer at a firm in Los Angeles named 3DID, Inc. His career in the hospitality business began when he moved to San Francisco where he met his room-mate and eventual co-founder of the company Joe Gebba. In 2007, the duo bought three air-mattresses, renting out their apartment on a nightly basis under their marketed idea ‘”Airbed and Breakfast” and had three guests on the very first night. The idea took off and thus Airbnb was born in 2008.
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Early Life and Education
Brian Chesky was born in Niskayuna, New York on 29 August 1981 to Deborah and Robert H. Chesky. Both his parents were social workers. He has one sibling, a younger sister named Allison Chesky. Chesky has Polish and Italian ancestry on his father’s and mother’s side respectively. As a child, Chesky expressed interest in art and design and later developed a passion for landscape architecture and design.
Chesky enrolled into the Rhode Island School of Design in 1999 and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in the field of Industrial Design in 2004.
Career Rise
Chesky met his Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia when the two enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design. The duo became room-mates when they moved to San Francisco. They were scheduled to attend the Industrial Designers Society of America conference in San Francisco but were forced to book expensive hotel rooms that they couldn’t afford. This in turn led to them being unable to afford their apartment’s rent. It was then, that they bought three air-mattresses and listed their apartment as an “Airbed and Breakfast” in October 2007, in order to collect money for the rent they owed. For their first night as ‘apartment renters’ they got three guests. They developed the idea further and Airbnb was born in August 2008.
In February 2008, Nathan Blecharczyk, a technical architect and a graduate joined the team and became the third co-founder of the company. Each co-founder was given a key position within the company and Chesky was named the Chief Executive Officer. However, the company needed funding and came up with the idea of creating special-edition cereals that were called “Cap’n McCains” and “Obama O’s”, based on US Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama. This in turn impressed Y Combinator which provided them with seed funding. Within the first year, the company went international and opened many offices in Europe. The services of Airbnb have been used by 60 Million people worldwide and the company raised $555 million with a $30 billion valuation in September 2016. Chesky was named an Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship in 2015 by President Obama.
Forbes magazine named Chesky on their list of America’s Richest Entrepreneurs Under the age of 40. He also featured in Time Magazine’s Most Influential People in the year 2015. In the same year, he was named as the ‘Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship’ by then President Barack Obama.
Brian Chesky girlfriend – Elissa Patel
Chesky prefers to live in different Airbnb homes. He met his girlfriend Elissa Patel through the online dating app Tinder and spends a lot of time with her in Airbnb neighbourhoods calling them ‘staycations’. The couple are avid yoga enthusiasts and practice it every Thursday.
Elissa was born in the US, though she has Indian roots. She is an artist and a painter, with a work experience in Frontback as a marketing manager, and in Mercatus as a marketing consultant. Her parents had shifted to the US in early 50s.
Brian Chesky – House
Chesky lives in a self-confessed “small home” in San Francisco, California with his girlfriend Ellisa Patel which enables them “live a low-key life”. He has listed his home on Airbnb and continues to rent it out.
Brian Chesky – Net Worth
One of the youngest self-made billionaires in the world, Chesky has an estimated net worth of $3.3 Billion.
Airbnb Valuation and Revenue
Airbnb has come a long way, since its creation in 2008. As on 2018, the company is valued at $31 billion; it is the second most valuable start-up in the US after Uber. From 2008 to 2018, the company has raised in excess of $3 billion, the last $1 billion was raised in 2017.
