Brian Joseph Chesky (born August 29, 1981) is an American businessman and industrial designer and the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. As of January 2024, Chesky is the 232nd richest person in the world according to Forbes, with a net worth of $9.4 billion,^[1] mostly due to his ownership of 76 million shares of Airbnb.^[2]

Brian Chesky was born on August 29, 1981, in Niskayuna, New York, the son of Deborah and Robert H. Chesky;^[3] His father is of Polish and his mother of Italian origin.^[4] Chesky's parents were both social workers.^[5][6] He has a younger sister, Allison.^[5] As a child, Chesky was interested in art, drawing replicas of paintings, and design, redesigning shoes and toys.^[5] He later became interested in landscape architecture and design.^[7]

Chesky graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in industrial design.^[8][9] While studying at RISD, Chesky was influenced by the works of Charles Eames, Ray Eames, and Walt Disney.^[10][11] He was captain of the RISD hockey team and in his early 20s was a competitive bodybuilder.^[5][8]

After graduating from RISD, Chesky moved to Los Angeles to work as an industrial designer.^[12] In October 2007, he moved to San Francisco to live with RISD classmate Joe Gebbia.^[5] Chesky did not have enough money to pay his rent, and decided with Gebbia to open their house to short-term renters. His move to San Francisco coincided with the Industrial Designers Society of America conference, which ran out of hotel rooms. The pair decided to open the house they were renting as a bed and breakfast, providing air mattresses for guests to sleep on and Pop-Tarts for breakfast. The business became Airbnb.^[12][5]

Chesky became the leader and chief executive officer of Airbnb. To receive funding, Chesky and his co-founders created special-edition cereals called "Obama O's" and "Cap'n McCains", based on presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.^{[13][14][15][16]} Impressed by the cereal boxes, computer programmer Paul Graham 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.^[17]

In December 2020, Airbnb became a public company via an initial public offering.^[18]

In 2015, Chesky was included on the Forbes list of America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40.^[19] Chesky was recognized on the Time 100 for 2015.^[18]

In May 2015, President Barack Obama named Chesky an Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship.^[20]

In 2016, Chesky was also named in the Youngest Forbes 400 list.^[21]

In 2018, Chesky was named the Bay Area Executive of the Year by American City Business Journals.^[22]

In June 2022, Chesky was featured among the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Hospitality by the International Hospitality Institute.^[23]

In December 2022, Chesky listed his home in San Francisco's Mission District on Airbnb.^[24][25]