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YouTube founders reaped fortunes from sale to Google
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - YouTube founders received more than a half-billion dollars in Google stock when the search engine bought the video-sharing website last year, regulatory documents revealed.Google bought YouTube in November in a 1.65-billion-dollar stock deal that marked the search engine's most expensive acquisition and crowned the young start-up an enviable success story.

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley received 694,087 shares, valued at nearly 328 million dollars on Thursday. Hurley got another 41,242 shares of Google stock, valued at 19.5 million dollars, which were placed in a trust fund.

YouTube co-founder Steve Chen received 625,366 shares valued at 295.5 million dollars and another 68,721 shares worth 32.47 million dollars that were placed in a trust fund, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Google's third founder, Jawed Karim, received 137,443 shares of Google stock with a market value of 64.9 million dollars.

Sequoia Capital, which financed YouTube to the tune of 11.5 million dollars, got a payoff of 941,027 shares worth 444.64 million dollars, the SEC filing indicated.

Chen and Hurley met in 1999, while working at PayPal, three years before the online financial transaction service was bought by Internet auction site eBay for 1.5 billion dollars.

Hurley left PayPal to work for himself as a consultant. Chen remained at PayPal and worked on the company's expansion into China.

The friends first discussed wanting an easy way to share home videos online while at a dinner with other former PayPal employees in January 2005.

Hurley, Chen and former PayPal colleague Karim launched YouTube in April 2005.

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