Nathan 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.[2] Blecharczyk was also the company's first chief technology officer.[3]

Nathan Blecharczyk
Nathan Blecharczyk, 2013
Born1983 (age 37–38)
NationalityAmerican
EducationBoston Latin Academy
Harvard University
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb
Net worthUS$13.3 billion (Jan 2021)[1]
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
Children2

Early life and education

Blecharczyk was born in 1983,[1] the son of Sheila (née Underwood) and Paul Steven Blecharczyk.[4] He grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston Latin Academy. 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] He was also on the business staff of The Harvard Crimson during his time at Harvard.[9]

Career

Blecharczyk began his career as an engineer at OPNET Technologies in 2005. He served as a lead developer at Batiq in 2007.[10] 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.[11]

Blecharczyk is credited with overseeing Airbnb's 2015 expansion into Cuba.[1] 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.[12]

In early 2017, Blecharczyk transitioned to chief strategy officer at Airbnb.[3] Blecharczyk was announced as the chairman of Airbnb China, also known as Aibiying, in October 2017.[2]

In summer 2019, Sean Joyce, then a senior Airbnb official, raised concerns after Chinese government officials asked Airbnb for enhanced data sharing in China. The Wall Street Journal reported Blecharczyk responding that the company was not there to "promote American values."[13]

Personal life

Blecharczyk resides in San Francisco, California.[1] He is married to Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk, a neonatologist.[14][15] They have two children.[16]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Nathan Blecharczyk". Forbes.com. Retrieved 27 Jan 2021.
  2. Ting, Deanna. "Airbnb Co-Founder Nathan Blecharczyk Named Chairman of Airbnb China". Skift.
  3. Stone, Brad; Zaleski, Olivia (26 January 2017). "Airbnb Enters the Land of Profitability". Bloomberg.
  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". 12 May 2003. Archived from the original on 12 May 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  8. Stone, Brad (26 January 2017). "The $99 Billion Idea". Bloomberg.
  9. "About The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. June 9, 2004. Archived from the original on June 9, 2004. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  10. "Nathan Blecharczyk". Wealth-X.
  11. Townsend, Tess (October 19, 2016). "How Airbnb Got Out of The "Trough of Sorrow"". Chicago Tribune.
  12. "Airbnb Cofounders Join Buffett and Gates' 'Giving Pledge'". Fortune. June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  13. Grind, Dustin Volz and Kirsten (2020-11-20). "WSJ News Exclusive | Airbnb Executive Resigned Last Year Over Chinese Request for More Data Sharing". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  14. Stanford medicine: "Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk" retrieved May 8, 2016
  15. Goldberg, Eleanor (2 June 2016). "Airbnb Co-Founders Commit Half Their Fortunes to Charity". Huffington Post.
  16. "Why Fathers Need Parental Leave Too". Fortune. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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