Meet the newest YouTube billionaires, they are freaking kids!!!!

[Herman Munster]

It's nuts that people like this in their 20's can become so rich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCVxQ_3Ejkg

[devilgrrl]

1. Well, invent something that someone will pay billions of $$$ for...

you jealous or something?

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. Well said!

:thumbsup:

[eallen]

4. They're not billionaires, either.

Though their wealth likely is somewhere near 8 digits. Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion. Since YouTube had VC backing, and given some other reasonable assumptions about cap structure, I would guess the two founders maybe enjoy about 15% of that, each. Call it $250 million, give or take a few.

[Herman Munster]

8. not jealous

amazed more like it that google would pay so much for a copyright attorney's wet dream. Also, I know a lot of young professional twenty-somethings and it's just amazing to me. These people look and act like immature teenyboppers. I guess it's the corporate culture out in internet land is something I just don't get.

[Jeroen]

34. Brilliant idea, well implemented. It is not as easy as you might think

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Like William Henry Gates III?

:shrug:

[Fleshdancer]

5. I just don't get this deal

YouTube is fun but worth billions? How? :shrug:

[Starlight]

28. I think it's more about google shutting them down. With this popular, FREE

site running, no one wanted to PAY for google's similar site. Now they have no competition. :popcorn:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

6. They cashed in, can't fault them. I just hope...

They are able to do something constructive with the money. Invent something else, contribute to a charitable cause, etc - not just blow it :)

[electron_blue]

31. as I understand it they got stock, not cash. I like Google, but I

hope these guys cash in at least *some* of their stock and reinvest it elsewhere.

[datadiva]

7. Well, I for one am glad for them

I enjoy Youtube. I just hope Google doesn't screw it up. I like it the way it is.

[MODemocrat]

21. Can't figure out why I can't get anything on Youtube

I'm not exactly a computer whiz, and it's frustrating to see all the good stuff advertised that's on
Youtube, and not be able to see it.:shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug: :shrug:

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. There is something incredibly weird about this.

Google has all the money & talent that it buys to have invented something like this a long time ago.

Remember the hiring campaign that they did where you had to answer extremely complicated math & computer programming puzzles in order to get an interview? Why would they need to pay off these clowns
to get access to a half ass website that relies almost completely on Adobe Flash Version 8 for it's "technology"?

[Herman Munster]

10. because these guys created a brand

youtube and myspace are nothing but style over substance and social networking. Google lacks that social networking. They aren't really buying code or technology here. They are buying a brand, a brand that heavily relies on copyrighted material that will get sued. Only reason they haven't been sued already is youtube never made a single profit.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. To me it seems like a crappy brand that's easily duplicated, like

netscape. Most of what they have on there is movies of people's pets and old stale music videos. Google has too much money & can't find "venture capital correct" places to invest it.

[BrotherBuzz]

14. Bob Wright, CEO of NBC said almost the same thing last week

NBC had been looking at youtube and liked what they saw, but stated they could create their own version from scratch just as easy and cheaper purchasing youtube.

[KoKo]

36. And, it's only been around less than a year, right? Seems like an

awfully fast run up in a very short time.. Anyone else hear about "You Tube" before a few months ago? Most of us here were using "Crooks & Liars (last years phenomenon) and our own DU'er "Can-O-Fun's" Video for what we wanted to see.

I think GOOGLE got suckered...they could have done this on their own..???:shrug:

[goodhue]

16. It's about the brand popularity, not the technology

[The_Casual_Observer]

25. Strange that the popularity didn't translate into profits, even

with only a 27 person staff & some dell servers.They are going to have to go some to get a payback on that 1.65 billion. I guess my thinking is just too "old europe".

My thought was that since they weren't making any money on it, there must be some underlying technology that was really good that google wanted to get. Turns out that all they are really getting is a "brand" that isn't profitable. It's just more .com hysteria. They managed to fleece the geniuses at google out of their investor's money.

[Telly Savalas]

35. They sold it before putting much effort into adding revenue-generating

features. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they had pretty much no advertising on the site, yeah?

Since it's established as the leader in online advertising, Google is probably the company best equipped to squeeze cash out of the Youtube brand. However, I think it's an extremely risky investment on their part.

According to this link, people watch 100 million videos at YouTube per day. If this level is held steady for a decade, that's 365 billion movies watched, which means they'd need to generate about .45 cents per movie to pay for the $1.65 billion purchasing price. If there were one ad per movie, that'd be a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) of $4.50, which is in the ballpark of the going rate, if I have my facts straight.

However, I think this "model" rests on some extremely flattering projections for YouTube. While that 100 million videos per day may grow a bit over the next couple of years, I'd be surprised if it maintains its popularity much longer than that. A decade is a geological age in terms of the internet. In several years, it's quite likely that something else will emerge which will cut into Youtube's audience. And that's not even mentioning the fact the thing is a time bomb for copyright infringement lawsuits.

Savalas Group Global Equity downgrades GOOG from Neutral to SELL!

[Sapere aude]

11. Don't use their service then you won't be contributing to them.

[hang a left]

13. Excuse me but what about the two kids that developed Google??nt

[goodhue]

15. Good for them!

[madmusic]

17. Yeah, sucks to be them.

:cry:

[SOS]

18. Can you find the Youtube guys on this chart?

US wealth distribution:

[boolean]

19. KIDS? They're in their late 20s

They're not kids.

And to the people saying that youtube sucks or that google was stupid to pay for this or that these guys don't deserve this somehow...

HOW many times have *WE* linked to youtube for
-Jon Stewart
-Colbert
-Keith Olbermann
-ETC.

Come on guys. Credit where credit is due.

[DaveJ]

20. Was it luck? We will see.

...if they ever create anything else from scratch that is nearly as successful. I doubt it.

Edit: Strange how it's easier for us to be in awe of kids like these and forget about people who become just as rich by buying a lottery ticket. One thing these kids did that very few people do is, they tried. Not many people even try to start any kind of new and original business venture. More people should try. Businesses can make a lot of money.

[Monk06]

22. Simple idea + consistent implementation + brand following = $$$$$$$$$$

[SOS]

26. $11.5 million in venture capital helps.

nt

[Monk06]

27. $11.5 M generates $1.4 B. Helped a lot actually. Not a bad payday

[liberal1973]

23. Hey, I say good for them.

[Tyo]

24. I don't have a problem with this

At all.

[seabeyond]

29. hey... goodfor them. i hope they do good with all their fortune n/t

[kestrel91316]

30. Yeah. Hope they're all good liberals and give to the right causes.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

32. Not Nuts At All. In Fact, I Find It Absolutely Wonderful.

I say god bless em and may they enjoy their new found fortune!

[SmokingJacket]

33. Not as many as there were a few years ago.

Back when *I* was in my 20's, *everyone* was getting rich off the internet boom... ah, those was the days...

Good for them, they had a great idea. I just wish the wealth of this country were a little more spread around...