Joe Gebbia is a co-founder of Airbnb and Samara, an accessory dwelling unit startup that was formerly Airbnb's design studio, and of Airbnb.
44 Facts About Joe Gebbia
2.
Joe Gebbia grew up in Lawrenceville, Georgia and has one sister, Kimberly.
3.
Joe Gebbia pursued sports, music, and art throughout childhood, and worked several jobs including as a ball boy for the Atlanta Hawks.
4.
Joe Gebbia graduated in 2005 from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and Industrial Design.
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Joe Gebbia took supplementary business-related classes at Brown University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology while attending RISD.
6.
In May 2017, Joe Gebbia launched a modular office furniture business called Neighborhood.
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Joe Gebbia holds board and advisor roles as a member of the board of directors at Airbnb, and is a member of the board of trustees at Rhode Island School of Design.
8.
Joe Gebbia was appointed by Tesla, Inc to its board of directors in September 2022.
9.
In July 2022, Joe Gebbia stepped down from his full-time operating role at Airbnb, while remaining on the board of directors in an advisory role.
10.
Joe Gebbia announced the launch of its first product in November 2022, a net-zero tiny house called Backyard.
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Joe Gebbia has spoken about his passions for entrepreneurship and impact at the Clinton Global Initiative.
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Joe Gebbia is an investor in female-founded venture capital fund, The Helm.
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In 2022, Joe Gebbia joined the San Antonio Spurs investor group as its newest strategic partner.
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Joe Gebbia has had a longstanding passion for aesthetic and design.
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In high school, Joe Gebbia took classes including ceramics, photography, and jewelry metal smithing.
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Joe Gebbia took classes in figure drawing and painting at the Atlanta College of Art on weekends.
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In one of his first courses at RISD, Joe Gebbia took a 3D foundations class with a semester-long project aiming to produce 12-inch scale works of a famous artist or designer.
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Joe Gebbia decided he wanted to create life-size models so he could use them afterwards, but his professor dismissed the idea and told to stick to the achievable.
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Joe Gebbia set out to prove his professor wrong and produced sixteen full-sized chairs for his final project.
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Joe Gebbia refers to this anecdote as one of several examples that allowed him to transcend beliefs of what was possible.
21.
Around this time, Joe Gebbia became inspired by the work of Charles and Ray Eames and switched his studies from painting to industrial design.
22.
Joe Gebbia has emphasized the importance of his design background in preparing him for entrepreneurship.
23.
Joe Gebbia developed the idea at RISD and the design was selected as the senior gift for his graduating class of 800 students.
24.
Joe Gebbia's design focus led to a surge in bookings after Gebbia offered free professional photography services from a community of over 2,000 freelancers.
25.
In 2017, Joe Gebbia launched his own collection of modular office furniture, called Neighborhood, at the ICFF furniture fair as a part of New York City's design week.
26.
Joe Gebbia created the collection for Bernhardt Design, a furniture company known for working with international and emerging designers.
27.
Joe Gebbia supported the newly formed Eames Institute for Infinite Curiosity, aimed at broadening the influence of Ray and Charles Eames through exhibitions from the Eames Collection.
28.
Joe Gebbia has an interest in philanthropy, particularly refugee relief and housing support.
29.
In December 2020, Joe Gebbia made a $25 million personal donation to benefit two San Francisco charities working to end homelessness in the Bay Area, Rising Up - Larkin Street Youth Services and All Home.
30.
Joe Gebbia serves on the Advisory Council for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and traveled with the group to Jordan to further educate himself on refugee conditions.
31.
Joe Gebbia is on the Leadership Council of the Malala Fund.
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Joe Gebbia traveled with Malala Yousafzai to Kenya and Rwanda to work on girls' education in refugee camps.
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In 2017, Joe Gebbia brought Yeonmi Park, a North Korean refugee as his guest to the Met Gala to bring attention to the issue of global-refugee security.
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Joe Gebbia is among the youngest members to join the Giving Pledge, created by Bill and Melinda Gates with Warren Buffett.
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Joe Gebbia has made donations to service-led companies and projects, including Thorn, Educate Girls, and others.
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Joe Gebbia sits on the board of trustees of his alma mater, the Rhode Island School of Design.
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In 2022, Joe Gebbia was the graduation speaker at his alma mater, Brookwood High School.
38.
Joe Gebbia pledged 22 shares of Airbnb stock to all 890 graduates, a gift worth $2.1 million.
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In 2023, Joe Gebbia made a $25 million gift to The Ocean Cleanup, the organization's largest private donation to date.
40.
Joe Gebbia executive produced a documentary, in partnership with XTR, following the Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympics before, during and after the 2020 Tokyo Games.
41.
In 2009, Joe Gebbia was listed in BusinessWeek's Top 20 Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs.
42.
Joe Gebbia was named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People.
43.
Joe Gebbia is included in The Chronicle of Philanthropy's 2021 list of America's 50 Biggest Charity Donors, alongside Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, and Michael Bloomberg.
44.
Joe Gebbia has a rescue dog named after the Airbnb logo, Belo.