Short answers, pulled from the story.
Airbnb was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk. Chesky and Gebbia came up with the idea in October 2007 in San Francisco, placing an air mattress in their apartment during a design industry conference. Blecharczyk joined as chief technology officer in February 2008.
Airbnb raised its first significant outside money through Y Combinator, which provided $20,000 in exchange for a 6% stake in January 2009. Before that, the founders raised roughly $30,000 by selling presidential campaign-themed cereal at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Sequoia Capital led a $600,000 seed round in April 2009.
Airbnb went public on the 10th of December 2020, raising $3.5 billion on Nasdaq. The company offered shares to hosts on its platform at the IPO price of $68 per share.
Airbnb ceased operations in China in May 2022, citing regulations that required the platform to share detailed guest information with Chinese government authorities, along with a decline in business from COVID-19 lockdowns. China accounted for less than 1% of Airbnb's revenue at the time of its exit.
In July 2016, Airbnb hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to help develop an anti-discrimination policy after reports showed hosts were rejecting guests based on names that suggested they were Black. As part of the reform, photos of prospective guests are hidden from hosts until a booking request is accepted.
Bookings dropped as much as 96% in some cities during the pandemic. Airbnb pledged $250 million to compensate hosts for cancellations and laid off approximately 1,900 employees, about 25% of its workforce. The company posted a net loss of $4.584 billion in 2020 before recovering to net income of $1.893 billion in 2022.