Nathan Blecharczyk

Nathan Blecharczyk

Nathan Blecharczyk Backstage at the Crunchies 2013
Residence San Francisco, California
Nationality American
Education Harvard University
Occupation Businessman, Entrepreneur
Known for Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Airbnb
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
Children 2
Parent(s) Sheila Underwood Blecharczyk
Paul Steven Blecharczyk

Nathan "Nate" Blecharczyk is an American business executive and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, and was the company's first chief technology officer.[1]

Early life and education

Blecharczyk was born in 1983,[2] the son of Sheila (née Underwood) and Paul Steven Blecharczyk.[3] He grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. During high school, he made money by creating his own software business.[4] 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. 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 spam-hosting business to focus on his studies in 2002.[5]

Career

Blecharczyk began his career as an engineer at OPNET Technologies in 2005. He served as a lead developer at Batiq in 2007.[6] 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.[5] 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.[7]

Blecharczyk is credited with overseeing Airbnb's 2015 expansion into Cuba.[2] 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.[8]

In early 2017, Blecharczyk transitioned to chief strategy officer at Airbnb.[1] 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".[9]

Personal life

Blecharczyk resides in San Francisco, California.[2] He is married to Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk, a neonatologist.[10][11] They have two children.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Stone, Brad; Zaleski, Olivia (26 January 2017). "Airbnb Enters the Land of Profitability". Bloomberg.
  2. 1 2 3 Forbes: #1006 Nathan Blecharczyk
  3. ↑ Brattleboro Reformer: "Floyd Underwood" August 21, 2003
  4. ↑ Salter, Jessica (7 September 2012). "Airbnb: The Story Behind the $1.3Bn Room-Letting Website". The Telegraph.
  5. 1 2 Stone, Brad (26 January 2017). "The $99 Billion Idea". Bloomberg.
  6. ↑ "Nathan Blecharczyk". Wealth-X.
  7. ↑ Townsend, Tess (October 19, 2016). "How Airbnb Got Out of The "Trough of Sorrow"". Chicago Tribune.
  8. ↑ "Airbnb Cofounders Join Buffett and Gates' 'Giving Pledge'". Fortune. June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ "The World's Billionaires List". Forbes.
  10. ↑ Stanford medicine: "Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk" retrieved May 8, 2016
  11. ↑ Goldberg, Eleanor (2 June 2016). "Airbnb Co-Founders Commit Half Their Fortunes to Charity". Huffington Post.
  12. ↑ "Why Fathers Need Parental Leave Too". Fortune. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
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