This One Video Convinced Google to Buy YouTube in 2006
Back then, the search giant was looking at YouTube, then a tiny unprofitable Silicon Valley startup.
By Biz Carson •
This story originally appeared on Business Insider
What is YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's favorite video?
The one that convinced her Google needed to buy YouTube.
In 2006, Wojcicki was overseeing Google video and in charge of its acquisitions. The search giant was looking at YouTube, then a tiny unprofitable Silicon Valley startup, when Wojcicki stumbled upon a video of two boys in China lipsynching to the Backstreet Boys "As Long As You Love Me."
The video of the two boys outrageously lip-synching while their roommate did homework in the background was hilarious to the Google exec, she said onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit.
"That was the video that made me realize that 'Wow, people all over the world can create content, and they don't need to be in a studio,'" Wojcicki said.
A light bulb went off in her head, and six months after the video was posted, Wojcicki led Google through the $1.65 billion acquisition of the video sharing site. She's loved YouTube since she watched this video, and was named its CEO in February 2014.
Here's the magical video:
