Brian Chesky: Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb

Brian Chesky: Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb

Business Owner · Internet & Consumer Tech

San Francisco

Brian Chesky, an industrial designer by training, co-founded Airbnb and leads it as CEO. He holds roughly a 10 percent stake in the company.

About Brian Chesky: Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb

Brian Joseph Chesky (born August 29, 1981, in Niskayuna, New York) is an American businessman and industrial designer, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. According to Forbes he is the 290th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $9.2 billion, largely thanks to his 10 percent ownership stake in Airbnb. Chesky's parents were both social workers, and he has a younger sister, Allison. As a child his first hobby was ice hockey; by his teens he had developed an interest in art, citing Leonardo da Vinci as an early inspiration, drawing replicas of paintings and redesigning toys and shoes. Watching friends of his parents redesign their backyard sparked an interest in landscape architecture and later urban planning. He graduated from Niskayuna High School in 1999 and from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in industrial design, where he was influenced by Charles and Ray Eames and Walt Disney, captained the hockey team and competed as a bodybuilder. After graduating he moved to Los Angeles to work as an industrial designer for 3DID, designing toys, guitars and medical equipment, but became disillusioned with the job and the long commutes. He went on to co-found Airbnb, the online marketplace for short-term stays that grew out of his design background, and leads it as CEO. Sources: English Wikipedia (Brian Chesky, accessed September 2026).

Basic Information

Co-founder and CEO, Airbnb

Company Details

Airbnb

Travel, Hospitality, Online Marketplace