Nathan Blecharczyk
{{Short description|American businessman (born 1983)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nathan Blecharczyk
| image = 2022 - Centre Stage SM7 8493 (52474319677) (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Blecharczyk in 2022
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1983}}
| nationality = American
| known_for = Co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb
| education = Harvard University (BS)
| occupation = Chief strategy officer of Airbnb
| spouse = Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
| children = 2
}}
Nathan Blecharczyk /blə'ʃɑrzɪk/ (born 1983) is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Airbnb, and chairman of Airbnb China. Blecharczyk was also the company's first chief technology officer.{{Cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-26/airbnb-enters-the-land-of-profitability | title=Airbnb Enters the Land of Profitability |last1=Stone | first1=Brad | last2=Zaleski | first2=Olivia | work=Bloomberg News | date=January 26, 2017 | url-access=subscription}} Blecharczyk is the 203rd richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $9.4 billion,{{Cite web | url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/nathan-blecharczyk/ | title=Nathan Blecharczyk | work=Forbes}} mostly due to his ownership of 62 million shares of Airbnb.{{Cite web | url=https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1559720/000119312524102960/d636281ddef14a.htm | title=Airbnb, Inc. 2023 Form 14-A Proxy Statement | publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | date=April 19, 2024}}
Early life and education
Blecharczyk was born in 1983, the son of Sheila (née Underwood) and Paul Steven Blecharczyk, who is Polish-American. His ancestors came to the United States around the time of World War I.{{cite web | url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/brattleboro/name/floyd-underwood-obituary?id=32529202 | title=Brattleboro Reformer: "Floyd Underwood" | work=Brattleboro Reformer | via=Legacy.com | date=August 21, 2003}}{{cite tweet|number=649275518001373184|user=nathanblec|title=@JacekBereznicki yes I'm half polish; my ancestors came over around the time of World War I |date=September 30, 2015}} He grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston Latin Academy, graduating in 2001.{{Cite web | url=https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/10/21/boston-latin-academy-gifted-1-mil-from-alumnus-airbnb-co-founder/ | title=Boston Latin Academy gifted $1 mil from alumnus, Airbnb c0-founder | first1=Alexi | last1=Cohan | first2=Sean Phillip | last2=Cotter | work=Boston Herald | date=October 21, 2019 | url-access=subscription}} During high school, he made money by creating a software business.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9525267/Airbnb-The-story-behind-the-1.3bn-room-letting-website.html | title=Airbnb: The Story Behind the $1.3Bn Room-Letting Website |last=Salter | first=Jessica | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=September 7, 2012}} His web-hosting business provided services to spammers and was once listed on The Spamhaus Project "Registry of Known Spam Operators (ROKSO)" which lists the top spamming services.{{cite web | url=https://www.gawkerarchives.com/5853754/the-seedy-spammy-past-of-airbnbs-co-founder |title=The Seedy, Spammy Past of Airbnb's Co-Founder |first=Ryan | last=Tate | work=Gawker | date=October 27, 2011}}
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.{{Cite web | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-uber-airbnb-99-billion-idea/ | title=The $99 Billion Idea | last=Stone | first=Brad | work=Bloomberg News |date=January 26, 2017 | url-access=subscription}} He was also on the business staff of The Harvard Crimson during his time at Harvard College.{{Cite news | url=https://www.universityherald.com/articles/76925/20191127/founders-top-start-up-companies-universities-where-graduated.htm | title=Founders Of Top Startup Companies And The Universities Where They Graduated | work=University Herald | date=November 27, 2019}}
Career
Blecharczyk began his career as an engineer at OPNET in 2005. He was a lead developer at Batiq in 2007. Blecharczyk moved into an apartment with Joe Gebbia after seeing an ad on Craigslist.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/04/airbnb-cofounder-nathan-blecharczyk-cto-work-family-decomposing-body | title=Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk: 'A body? It's unusual, but it wasn't as if it was in the front yard' | first=Paula | last=Cocozza | work=The Guardian | date=March 4, 2016}} In 2008, Blecharczyk partnered with Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia to found Airbnb, and was the company's first chief technology officer and coded the company's original website using Ruby on Rails. 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 attracted the attention of Paul Graham, who invited the founders to the January 2009 winter training session of his startup incubator, Y Combinator, which provided them with training and $20,000 in funding in exchange for a 6% interest in the company.{{cite news | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/success/inc/tca-how-airbnb-got-out-of-the-trough-of-sorrow-20161019-story.html | title=How Airbnb Got Out of The "Trough of Sorrow" | work=Chicago Tribune | first=Tess | last=Townsend | date=October 19, 2016}} In the early years of the company, Airbnb overcame attempts to ban the service in New York City and San Francisco and eventually agreed to pay hotel taxes.{{Cite news | url=https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/airbnb-nathan-blecharczyk-leaning-back-into-the-companys-scrappy-roots.html |title=Airbnb's Nathan Blecharczyk Is Leaning Back Into the Company's Scrappy Roots | first=JENNIFER | last=CONRAD | work= Inc.com | date=July 14, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208144748/https://www.inc.com/jennifer-conrad/airbnb-nathan-blecharczyk-leaning-back-into-the-companys-scrappy-roots.html | archive-date=February 8, 2024 | url-status=live}}
Blecharczyk oversaw Airbnb's 2015 expansion into Cuba.
In early 2017, Blecharczyk transitioned to chief strategy officer at Airbnb. Blecharczyk was announced as the chairman of Airbnb China, also known as Aibiying, in October 2017.{{Cite web | url=https://skift.com/2017/10/19/airbnb-co-founder-nathan-blecharczyk-named-chairman-of-airbnb-china/ | title=Airbnb Co-Founder Nathan Blecharczyk Named Chairman of Airbnb China | work=Skift | last=Ting | first=Deanna | date=October 20, 2017 }}
In summer 2019, after Sean M. Joyce, then a senior Airbnb official, raised concerns after Chinese government officials asked Airbnb for enhanced data sharing in China Blecharczyk responded that the company was not there to "promote American values."{{Cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/airbnb-executive-resigned-last-year-over-chinese-request-for-more-data-sharing-11605896753 | last2=Grind | first1=Dustin | last1=Volz | first2=Kirsten |date=November 20, 2020 | title=Airbnb Executive Resigned Last Year Over Chinese Request for More Data Sharing | work=The Wall Street Journal | url-access=subscription | issn=0099-9660}}
Personal life
Blecharczyk resides in San Francisco, California. He is married to Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk, a neonatologist.{{cite web | url=https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/elizabeth-morey-blecharczyk | title=Stanford medicine: "Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk | work=Stanford University}}{{cite news | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/airbnbs-co-founders-commit-half-of-33-billion-fortunes-to-charity_n_57505ef3e4b0ed593f138a6e | title=Airbnb Co-Founders Commit Half Their Fortunes to Charity | last=Goldberg | first=Eleanor | work=HuffPost | date=June 2, 2016}} They have two children; Blecharczyk has been a supporter of parental leave for fathers.{{Cite news | url=https://fortune.com/2017/06/18/fathers-day-2017-usa-when-is-airbnb-parental-leave-dads/ |title=Why Fathers Need Parental Leave Too | first=NATHAN | last=BLECHARCZYK | work=Fortune | date=June 18, 2017}}
=Philanthropy=
Blecharczyk 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.{{cite magazine |url=https://fortune.com/2016/06/01/airbnb-cofounders-join-buffett-and-gates-giving-pledge/ |title=Airbnb Cofounders Join Buffett and Gates' 'Giving Pledge' | first=LEIGH | last=GALLAGHER | magazine=Fortune | date=June 1, 2016}}
In 2019, he donated $1 million to his alma mater, Boston Latin Academy.{{Cite news | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/airbnb-cofounder-nate-blecharczyk-boston-latin-academy-donation/ | title=Airbnb Co-Founder Donates $1M To Boston Latin Academy | work=CBS Boston | date=October 21, 2019}}
References
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Category:21st-century American philanthropists
Category:American billionaires
Category:American chief technology officers
Category:American people of Polish descent
Category:Boston Latin Academy alumni
Category:Businesspeople from San Francisco