Airbnb founder Brian Chesky.
Brian Chesky is an internet entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Airbnb, an online platform that allows people to rent their homes, or rooms within their homes, to guests. Chesky, 31, founded Airbnb in 2008 after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design. As of November 2012, Airbnb had 250,000 listings in more than 30,000 cities worldwide, according to Fortune.
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Airbnb has raised $120 million, according to CrunchBase, and late last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that billionaire tech mogul Peter Thiel was in talks to invest in Airbnb at a $2.5 billion valuation. But like other disruptive startups (see Uber) Airbnb faces regulatory and legal hurdles. For example, a 2011 law makes it illegal for New Yorkers to rent an entire apartment for less than 29 days, according to Crain’s New York Business. Airbnb is quietly lobbying lawmakers to change the law.