Jawed Karim
YouTube co-founder who uploaded its first video, “Me at the zoo”
- Age
- 47 yrs
- Birthday in 357 days
- Works listed
- 1
- Video
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 0
- 0 followers
Jawed Karim is a German-American software engineer of Bangladeshi descent who co-founded YouTube and uploaded its first video, “Me at the zoo”, on 23 April 2005. He later founded the investment fund YVentures, an early backer of Airbnb.
Biography
Background
Karim was born in East Germany to a Bangladeshi father and German mother. His family moved to West Germany and then to Minnesota in 1992. He studied computer science at the University of Illinois while working at PayPal.
YouTube
Karim proposed the idea of a video-sharing site, helped build it, and posted the first video — 19 seconds of himself in front of elephants at San Diego Zoo.
Leaving
He took an adviser role rather than a full-time job and returned to university, completing a master’s at Stanford. He received a large stake when Google bought YouTube.
YVentures
In 2008 he launched YVentures, which invested early in Airbnb. In 2013 he posted a protest about YouTube’s comment changes that drew attention.
Timeline
-
1979
Born in Merseburg, East Germany
-
1992
Family moves to the US
-
2000
Joins PayPal
-
2005
Co-founds YouTube; uploads its first video
-
2006
Google buys YouTube
-
2008
Launches YVentures
Notable works
-
2005
Me at the zoo Video
Did you know?
-
1
“Me at the zoo” has been viewed hundreds of millions of times.
-
2
He designed parts of PayPal’s anti-fraud system.
-
3
He is the least public of YouTube’s founders.
Connections
Related people
Also born on 28 October
Frequently asked
Who is Jawed Karim?
Jawed Karim is a German-American software engineer of Bangladeshi descent who co-founded YouTube and uploaded its first video, “Me at the zoo”, on 23 April 2005. He later founded the investment fund YVentures, an early backer of Airbnb.
How old is Jawed Karim?
Jawed Karim is 47 years old, born on 28 October 1979 in Merseburg, East Germany.
Where is Jawed Karim from?
Jawed Karim was born in Merseburg, East Germany.
What is Jawed Karim known for?
Jawed Karim is best known for Co-founding YouTube; uploading “Me at the zoo” (2005); YVentures.
References
- Jawed Karim — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jawed Karim — Hindi Wikipedia. Wikipedia (Hindi). Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. jawed.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Jawed Karim (Q76694) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Jawed Karim”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Jawed Karim.” TrackFame, last updated 4 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/jawed-karim
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Technology
Technology
Sachin Bansal
Co-founder of Flipkart and founder of Navi
Born 1981
Technology
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO of Microsoft
Born 1967
Technology
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys co-founder and architect of Aadhaar
Born 1955
Technology
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder of the hotel chain OYO
Technology
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder of the digital payments company Paytm
Born 1978
Technology
Sundar Pichai
CEO of Google and Alphabet
Born 1972