Nathan Blecharczyk

Nathan Blecharczyk
Nathan Blecharczyk Backstage at the Crunchies 2013
Born 1983 (age 34–35)
Residence San Francisco, California, US
Nationality American
Education Harvard University
Occupation Businessman
Known for Co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb
Net worth US$ 3.8 billion
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
Children 2
Parent(s) Sheila Underwood Blecharczyk
Paul Steven Blecharczyk

Nathan "Nate" Blecharczyk (born 1983) is an American billionaire businessman. He 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]

Early life and education

Blecharczyk was born in 1983,[3] the son of Sheila (née Underwood) and Paul Steven Blecharczyk.[4] He grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. During high school, he made money by creating his own software business.[5] His web-hosting business provided services to spammers and was once listed on the Spamhaus's "Registry of Known Spam Operators (ROKSO)" which lists the top spamming services.[6][7] 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.[8]

Career

Blecharczyk began his career as an engineer at OPNET Technologies in 2005. He served as a lead developer at Batiq in 2007.[9] In 2008, Blecharczyk partnered with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia to found Airbnb, he served as the company's first chief technology officer and coded the company's original website using Ruby on Rails.[8] 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 eventually attracted the attention of Y combinator co-founder Paul Graham who gave them $20,000 in early 2009 and accepted the company into the Y Combinator's seed funding program.[10]

Blecharczyk is credited with overseeing Airbnb's 2015 expansion into Cuba.[3] On June 1, 2016, Blecharczyk, Chesky and Gebbia 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.[11]

In early 2017, Blecharczyk transitioned to chief strategy officer at Airbnb.[2] He was listed as the 474th richest person in the world, with an estimated wealth of US$3.8 billion according to Forbes 2017 "The World's Billionaires List".[12] Blecharczyk was announced as the chairman of Airbnb China, also known as Aibiying, in October 2017.[1]

Personal life

Blecharczyk resides in San Francisco, California.[3] He is married to Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk, a neonatologist.[13][14] They have two children.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Ting, Deanna. "Airbnb Co-Founder Nathan Blecharczyk Named Chairman of Airbnb China". Skift.
  2. 1 2 Stone, Brad; Zaleski, Olivia (26 January 2017). "Airbnb Enters the Land of Profitability". Bloomberg.
  3. 1 2 3 "Nathan Blecharczyk". forbes.com. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Brattleboro Reformer: "Floyd Underwood" August 21, 2003
  5. ↑ Salter, Jessica (7 September 2012). "Airbnb: The Story Behind the $1.3Bn Room-Letting Website". The Telegraph.
  6. ↑ Tate, Ryan. "The Seedy, Spammy Past of Airbnb's Co-Founder". gawker.com. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  7. ↑ "The Spamhaus Project - Data-Miners.net - Nathan Blecharczyk". archive.org. 12 May 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  8. 1 2 Stone, Brad (26 January 2017). "The $99 Billion Idea". Bloomberg.
  9. ↑ "Nathan Blecharczyk". Wealth-X.
  10. ↑ Townsend, Tess (October 19, 2016). "How Airbnb Got Out of The "Trough of Sorrow"". Chicago Tribune.
  11. ↑ "Airbnb Cofounders Join Buffett and Gates' 'Giving Pledge'". Fortune. June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  12. ↑ "The World's Billionaires List". Forbes.
  13. ↑ Stanford medicine: "Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk" retrieved May 8, 2016
  14. ↑ Goldberg, Eleanor (2 June 2016). "Airbnb Co-Founders Commit Half Their Fortunes to Charity". Huffington Post.
  15. ↑ "Why Fathers Need Parental Leave Too". Fortune. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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