Airbnb

• 1. Cereal And The First Guests

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  In August 2008, the website Airbedandbreakfast.com launched with a simple promise. It offered short-term living quarters and breakfast for travelers unable to book hotels in San Francisco. Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia had moved to that city in October 2007. They turned an air mattress into a bed and breakfast in their own living room. Nathan Blecharczyk joined as chief technology officer in February 2008. The three founders secured their first customers during the summer of 2008. These guests attended the Industrial Design Conference held by the Industrial Designers Society of America. Travelers struggled to find lodging in the saturated market at that time.

  The company needed money to survive its early days. In 2008, they raised $30,000 by selling cereal named after Barack Obama and John McCain. They sold these boxes mostly at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Computer programmer Paul Graham invited them to Y Combinator in January 2009. This startup incubator provided training and $20,000 in funding for a 6% interest in the company. By March 2009, the site had 10,000 users and 2,500 listings. The name shortened to Airbnb.com in March 2009 to eliminate confusion over air mattresses.

• 2. Offices And Strategic Buys

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  Airbnb established its first international office in London in October 2011. Early 2012 saw openings in Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Moscow, and São Paulo. These locations joined existing offices in San Francisco, London, Hamburg, and Berlin. The company announced plans to launch service in Thailand and Indonesia in November 2012. A Sydney office opened as their eleventh location that same month. Singapore received an office in December 2012. European headquarters settled in Dublin by September 2013.

  The company grew through strategic acquisitions. Accoleo was a German competitor that launched the first international Airbnb office in Hamburg. CrashPadder added 6,000 international listings to make Airbnb the largest lodging website in the United Kingdom. Luxury Retreats became part of the portfolio with a price of $300 million in cash and stock. HotelTonight cost $400 million for booking last-minute hotel rooms. Trip4real brought travel activities to the marketplace. Lapka provided sensor startup technology. Vamo employees were acquired immediately after shutting down the company itself. AdBasis offered advertising technology built for A/B testing.

• 3. Valuation And Public Markets

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  In April 2009, Sequoia Capital invested $600,000 in seed money. Youniversity Ventures partners Jawed Karim, Keith Rabois, and Kevin Hartz participated in this round. Greylock Partners and Sequoia Capital invested $7.2 million in Series A funding in November 2010. Andreessen Horowitz, Digital Sky Technologies, General Catalyst, and A Grade Investments partners Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary put $112 million into the company by July 2011.

  TPG Capital invested $450 million at a valuation of $10 billion in April 2014. Google Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures invested $555.5 million at a valuation of $30 billion in September 2016. Airbnb raised $1 billion in March 2017, bringing total funding over $3 billion with a value of $31 billion. Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners acquired $1 billion in shares at an $18 billion valuation in April 2020. They also took $1 billion in debt at interest rates between 9% and 11.5%. On the 10th of December 2020, Airbnb became public via Nasdaq. The initial public offering raised $3.5 billion. Shares valued at $238 million were offered to hosts at $68 per share.

• 4. Housing And Legal Battles

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  Studies found that short-term rental contributed to increased long-term rental prices due to changes in housing supply and demand. Landlords kept properties off the longer-term market for higher short-term rates. Inside Airbnb accused the company of manipulating data to portray different results. Landlords faced accusations of illegally evicting tenants to convert properties into higher-rent listings. This phenomenon became known as the Airbnb effect.

  Airbnb contested laws requiring guest information in New York. In May 2019, they agreed to turn over anonymized information for approximately 17,000 listings so the city could pursue illegal rentals. Similar cases settled in Boston and Miami. The Belgian Constitutional Court referred a dispute to the European Court of Justice in April 2022. That court ruled that transmitting tourist transaction particulars to tax authorities was not contrary to EU law. A subdistrict court in the Netherlands found charging service fees to both host and guest illegal in March 2020. Thirty thousand people who rented as guests had a right to reimbursement if they filed claims.

• 5. Safety Bans And Policy Shifts

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  Incidents occurred where hosts secretly recorded guests using hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms. Publications like The Washington Post published guides on finding these devices. An Airbnb employee testified in a 2023 deposition that the company does not notify law enforcement as standard practice when complaints arise. Law enforcement experts said this practice hindered criminal investigations by giving suspects time to destroy evidence. Airbnb announced a ban on indoor cameras in March 2024 effective April 30. Hosts must now disclose noise-decibel monitoring equipment.

  A CNN investigation in July 2024 found Airbnb consistently failed to protect guests despite knowing about persistent concerns. The strategies relied upon aimed at preventing regulation of the short-term rental market. In June 2022, Airbnb permanently banned parties and events in homes on its platform. This position supported hosts and neighbors complaining of nuisances. Technology rolled out in August 2022 to enforce this ban. The company also laid off approximately 1,900 employees during the pandemic, representing about 25% of its workforce in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

• 6. Geopolitics And Boycotts

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  Airbnb was one of fifteen leading sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics held in Beijing. Human rights activists asked the company to drop sponsorship in March 2021 over alleged human rights violations by the Chinese Communist Party. These requests focused on persecution of Uyghurs in China. The company ignored these appeals. In May 2022, Airbnb ceased operations in China due to complicated laws requiring detailed guest information for government tracking. China represented less than 1% of revenue for Airbnb.

  In March 2022, Airbnb suspended business in Russia and Belarus due to international sanctions during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Certain hosts in China were accused of discrimination by refusing to rent to Uyghurs in 2019. Airbnb had been accused of allowing listings on land owned by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. This entity is a state-owned paramilitary sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act. An executive resigned in 2019 after six months working there following accusations of providing information to Chinese authorities. Joe Gebbia joined the Department of Government Efficiency in February 2025, triggering widespread calls to boycott Airbnb.