Who knew that renting out a spare room could make you a billionaire? Down but not out, the Brian Chesky net worth went from zero to billions in a matter of years.
Brian Chesky was a broke design graduate struggling to pay his rent back in 2007.
A decade on, he is the CEO of Airbnb, a marketplace for short-term lodgings, which has over 3 million listed properties around the world, an user base of 150 million users and a value of more than $30 billion.
The idea for an online property-listing platform came to Chesky as him and his roommate (and now co-founder Joe Gebbia) ushered three guests out of their home.
The duo were struggling to pay their rent and holding on to their home by a thread until that point. Yet, two men and a woman had just paid $80 each to spend the night sleeping on blow-up mattresses on their living-room floor, relieving their money stresses.
With their entrepreneurial minds ticking, Chesky and Gebbia created ‘Airbed and Breakfast’ and began targeting conferences and festivals around the US, convincing property owners to list their rooms on the website.
Yet, there was one small problem – how would they monetise their creation if the rooms weren’t their own?
Brian Chesky net worth: How did he make his fortune?
It wasn’t until 2009 that Airbnb started generating an income for Chesky, Gebbia and their new developer Nathan Blecharczyk. Having convinced hundreds of property owners to rent their spaces, they soon realised that they needed to monetise the service before it grew too big.
They began charging up to 15% on each booking, with the host paying 3% and the traveller paying up to 12%. The trio were able to live comfortably within four months.
The company has grown exponentially since. As millions of users flock to Airbnb, the rental platform has seen its value skyrocket. Due to his large stake in the company, the Brian Chesky net worth has seen similar growth.
As things stand, Brian Chesky’s personal wealth stands at approximately $3.8 billion. And yet, despite his new business celebrity status, Chesky still champions what his company believes in, regularly using Airbnb to find places to stay and offer his own couch at a rate of $50 a night.
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