Brian Chesky

Brian Chesky
Born	Brian Joseph Chesky 29 8, 1981
Birthplace	Niskayuna, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	CEO and co-founder of Airbnb
Known for	Co-founding Airbnb
Education	Rhode Island School of Design (BFA)
Awards	Time 100 Most Influential People (2015)

Brian Joseph Chesky (born August 29, 1981) is an American businessman, industrial designer, and entrepreneur who co-founded and serves as CEO of Airbnb, the global online marketplace for short-term lodging and travel experiences. What began as a modest idea—renting out air mattresses on the floor of a San Francisco apartment to offset rent costs—grew under Chesky's leadership into one of the most consequential companies in the travel and hospitality industry. Trained as a designer at the Rhode Island School of Design, Chesky brought a design-oriented sensibility to the business world, shaping Airbnb's user experience, brand identity, and corporate culture. He has been recognized by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and has signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes. In recent years, Chesky has become an outspoken advocate for integrating artificial intelligence into Airbnb's platform and business operations, describing AI as "the best thing that ever happened to" the company.

Early Life

Brian Joseph Chesky was born on August 29, 1981, in Niskayuna, New York, a suburb of Schenectady in the Capital District of upstate New York. Both of his parents were social workers, a background that would later inform his thinking about community and trust—concepts that became central to the Airbnb platform.

Chesky displayed an early interest in art and design during his childhood. He was drawn to drawing, painting, and various creative pursuits, harboring aspirations of becoming an artist or designer from a young age. His creative inclinations eventually led him to pursue formal training in design, setting him on a path that diverged from many of his technology industry peers who came from engineering or computer science backgrounds.

Growing up in Niskayuna, a community largely shaped by the presence of the General Electric Global Research Center, Chesky was surrounded by an environment that valued innovation and technical achievement, even as his own interests remained rooted in the visual arts and design disciplines. This upbringing in an innovation-oriented community, combined with his artistic temperament, would later prove instrumental in his approach to entrepreneurship, where he applied design thinking to solve business and user-experience challenges rather than relying solely on traditional technology-driven approaches.

Education

Chesky attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), one of the most prominent art and design colleges in the United States, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in industrial design. It was during his time at RISD that Chesky met Joe Gebbia, who would become his co-founder at Airbnb. The two became roommates and close collaborators, sharing a mutual interest in design and entrepreneurship.

Chesky's design education at RISD shaped his approach to business in fundamental ways. Rather than thinking in terms of technology platforms or financial models, he learned to approach problems through the lens of human experience, aesthetics, and user-centered design. He would later credit his RISD education as instrumental in the way Airbnb was conceived and built, noting that the company's emphasis on trust, belonging, and experiential quality stemmed directly from design principles he absorbed during his studies. Chesky later returned to RISD to deliver a keynote address, underscoring the institution's significance in his professional development.

Career

Early Career and the Founding of Airbnb

After graduating from RISD, Chesky moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as an industrial designer. In 2007, he relocated to San Francisco to live with his former RISD roommate Joe Gebbia. The two were struggling to afford their rent when a major design conference came to San Francisco, causing local hotels to sell out. Chesky and Gebbia saw an opportunity: they purchased air mattresses, set them up in their apartment, and offered attendees a place to sleep along with breakfast. They called the concept "Air Bed and Breakfast."

This initial experiment evolved into a formal business. Chesky and Gebbia recruited Nathan Blecharczyk, a technical co-founder with an engineering background, to build the website. The trio officially launched what would eventually become Airbnb, initially targeting major events where hotel accommodation was scarce. The early period of the company was marked by significant financial difficulty. The founders famously resorted to selling novelty cereal boxes—"Obama O's" and "Cap'n McCains"—during the 2008 presidential election to fund the company, a story that became part of Silicon Valley startup lore.

Airbnb was accepted into the Y Combinator startup accelerator program in early 2009, which provided the founders with mentorship, seed funding, and access to investor networks. The company began to gain traction, scaling rapidly from a niche service into a global platform.

Growth and Expansion of Airbnb

Under Chesky's leadership as CEO, Airbnb expanded from a simple room-sharing service into a comprehensive travel platform. The company grew to operate in cities around the world, fundamentally disrupting the traditional hotel and hospitality industry. The New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman highlighted Airbnb as a leading example of the emerging "sharing economy" in a 2013 column, noting how platforms like Chesky's company were transforming economic relationships between individuals.

Chesky's approach to running Airbnb was heavily influenced by design thinking. In a 2014 interview with The New York Times, he discussed how his background as an industrial designer shaped his decision-making, noting that he approached business problems with the same iterative, user-centered methodology he had learned at RISD. This design-first philosophy manifested in Airbnb's distinctive branding, its focus on high-quality photography of listings, and its emphasis on creating an emotional connection between hosts and guests.

The company's growth was not without challenges. Airbnb faced regulatory battles with cities around the world that sought to restrict or regulate short-term rentals. The platform also confronted issues of trust and safety, including incidents involving property damage and discrimination by hosts. Chesky addressed these challenges directly, implementing new policies and safety measures. In a 2026 interview with CNBC, Chesky reflected on a particular crisis moment as pivotal in his development as a leader, describing it as "the moment I really became a CEO" and explaining how the experience of navigating a trust crisis helped shape his approach to leadership.

Chesky served as a visible public advocate for the company's values and for the broader sharing economy. In 2015, the Obama administration invited him to the White House as part of a celebration of entrepreneurs, recognizing his contributions to innovation and the economy.

In 2018, Chesky was named the Bay Area Executive of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times, reflecting his stature among the region's business leaders.

Airbnb went public in December 2020 in one of the most closely watched initial public offerings in recent technology history. Despite the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the travel industry, the company's IPO was a major success, with shares more than doubling on the first day of trading. Chesky retained a significant ownership stake in the company following the public offering.

Leadership Philosophy and Management Style

Chesky has been vocal about his management philosophy, which he has described as deeply hands-on and detail-oriented. He has frequently cited Steve Jobs as a significant influence on his leadership approach. In a January 2026 interview reported by Fortune, Chesky stated that Jobs demonstrated that close attention to detail and what some might characterize as micromanagement was not about control but rather "about helping people think bigger and move faster."

In February 2026, Fortune reported on Chesky's views regarding work-life balance for executives. He argued that CEOs "don't have to be miserable" and encouraged other business leaders not to "apologize for how you want to run your company." The article noted that Chesky had banned morning meetings as part of his approach to structuring his workday in a way he considered more sustainable and effective.

Chesky has also discussed the centrality of design to his identity as a leader. In a 2026 appearance on the Design Matters podcast published by PRINT Magazine, he discussed how Airbnb "began with airbeds and grew into a worldwide community built on trust," connecting the company's origins to broader design principles about human connection and experience.

Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Beginning in late 2025 and intensifying in early 2026, Chesky positioned artificial intelligence as a core strategic priority for Airbnb. In January 2026, the company announced the hiring of Ahmad Al-Dahle, formerly the head of generative AI at Meta Platforms, as Airbnb's new Chief Technology Officer. In a CNBC interview discussing the appointment, Chesky stated that the company had "an opportunity to do AI right for travel and e-commerce."

In February 2026, Chesky described AI as "the best thing that ever happened to" Airbnb and warned other founders: "If you don't disrupt yourself, someone else will." Business Chief reported that Airbnb's earnings indicated that innovation and automation driven by AI were contributing to the company's growth.

Chesky also claimed that AI chatbots were generating more revenue for Airbnb than traditional search engines. The Times of India reported his remarks suggesting that Google was "not good enough" to generate additional business for Airbnb and that AI-powered tools were proving to be a more effective channel for customer acquisition.

Personal Life

Chesky has signed the Giving Pledge, the philanthropic commitment organized by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in which signatories pledge to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. Chesky was among the first technology entrepreneurs of his generation to make this commitment, joining alongside his Airbnb co-founders Gebbia and Blecharczyk in 2016.

Chesky has been involved in educational philanthropy. Together with the Obama Foundation, he launched a scholarship program valued at $100 million, aimed at providing educational opportunities.

Chesky has identified as Jewish American and has been included in media lists recognizing notable Jewish public figures.

Recognition

In 2015, Time named Chesky to its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, recognizing his role in building Airbnb and its impact on the global economy and travel industry.

Forbes has repeatedly included Chesky in its rankings of notable entrepreneurs and business figures, including in its list of America's richest entrepreneurs under 40 in 2016. The magazine has also profiled him individually as part of its coverage of technology leaders.

In 2018, the San Francisco Business Times selected Chesky as the Bay Area Executive of the Year, an award recognizing leadership achievement among business executives in the San Francisco metropolitan area.

Chesky has been included on international power lists, with Pulse.ng citing him among influential global business figures.

Legacy

Chesky's impact on the global economy has been most directly associated with the rise of the sharing economy, a term used to describe peer-to-peer platforms that allow individuals to monetize underutilized assets. Airbnb, under his leadership, became one of the defining companies of this economic model, enabling millions of homeowners around the world to earn income by renting rooms or entire properties to travelers. The scale of this disruption prompted significant debate about housing policy, labor markets, and the regulation of platform-based businesses in cities worldwide.

As a designer who became a technology CEO, Chesky has represented an atypical path in Silicon Valley, where engineering backgrounds have traditionally predominated among company founders. His emphasis on design thinking, user experience, and brand storytelling has been studied in business and design schools as a model for how non-technical founders can build and lead major technology companies. His alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design, has featured his career as an example of how design education can translate into business leadership at the highest level.

Chesky's philanthropic commitments, including the Giving Pledge and the $100 million scholarship program with the Obama Foundation, have positioned him among a cohort of technology leaders who have sought to use their wealth for social impact, particularly in education. His continued emphasis on integrating AI into Airbnb's operations, articulated in numerous public statements throughout 2025 and 2026, reflects his broader effort to position the company at the forefront of technological change in the travel industry.