Drew Houston
Born 1983 · Age 42
American internet entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, known for building Dropbox into a major cloud-storage and collaboration company and serving on Facebook's (Meta) board.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Acton, Massachusetts
Andrew W. Houston was born in Acton, Massachusetts.
First programming / early job at local startup
By age 14 Houston had been programming and was invited to work at a local company after discovering security bugs; early exposure to programming shaped his career.
High school graduation (approx.) — Acton-Boxborough Regional
Attended Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in the 1990s; approximate high-school completion around 2001 based on birth year.
Matriculated at MIT (approx.)
Enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study computer science (met future co‑founder Arash Ferdowsi while at MIT).
Founded an SAT-prep company (Accolade / college startup)
While at MIT Houston co-founded an SAT preparation/online education company (commonly reported as an early college venture).
Member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at MIT
Was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity during his time at MIT (cited in multiple bios).
Software engineer at Bit9, Inc.
Worked at Bit9 (cybersecurity firm) in an early software engineering role prior to founding Dropbox.
Graduated MIT with degree in Computer Science (approx.)
Graduated from MIT with a computer science degree (sources indicate mid-2000s; many bios report a 2006 graduation).
Applied to Y Combinator (solo founder) and connected with cofounder
Initially applied to Y Combinator as a single founder; brought in Arash Ferdowsi (an MIT classmate) and joined YC — the start of Dropbox's founding process.
Co-founded Dropbox, Inc.
Houston and Arash Ferdowsi co-founded Dropbox to solve file-sync and storage problems he was experiencing.
Named CEO of Dropbox
From founding, Drew Houston has served as CEO of Dropbox (role established at company founding and continued).
Dropbox public product launch
Dropbox launched publicly and began rapid user growth; early press and YC backing helped accelerate adoption.
Named one of BusinessWeek's 'most promising players aged 30 and under'
BusinessWeek named Houston among the most promising young technology figures.
Dropbox hailed as one of Y Combinator's most successful investments
By this period Dropbox was frequently cited as YC's most successful investment to date (press recognition milestone).
Dropbox mentioned in Tech press and Business Insider as one of Silicon Valley's top startups
Multiple outlets named Dropbox among top startups in Silicon Valley and cited its rapid growth in early 2010s (press recognition milestone).
Included in Inc.'s '30 Under 30' entrepreneurs
Houston was listed among Inc.'s top entrepreneurs under 30.
Named to MIT Technology Review TR35
Houston was honored on MIT Technology Review’s TR35 list of top innovators under 35.
Dropbox launches new sharing tool (product update)
Coverage (2012) highlighted product advances including improved sharing features as Dropbox expanded beyond simple sync.
Dropbox reaches ~100 million users; one billion files saved per day
Public milestone reporting ~100M users and mentions that 1 billion files were being saved to Dropbox every 24 hours.
Public personal life note: living status, family mention
Public bios (Wikipedia) state Houston is married and has one child (no public date given); the detail appears in profiles around 2013–2019.
Co-founded FWD.us lobbying group
Houston was listed as one of the founders of FWD.us, a lobbying group focused on immigration reform and education improvements.
Delivered MIT commencement address
Houston was invited by MIT to serve as speaker at its annual commencement ceremonies (speech delivered June 7, 2013).
TechCrunch 'Founders of the Year' Crunchie Award (with Arash Ferdowsi)
Houston and co-founder Arash Ferdowsi received TechCrunch's 'Founders Of The Year' Crunchie Award in 2014.
Dropbox raises $250M round valuing company at ~$10B (reported)
Forbes reported a $250M financing round that valued Dropbox at about $10 billion; the raise propelled founder Houston into billionaire territory in press coverage.
Co-winner of The Economist Innovation Award (Computing & Telecom)
Houston and cofounder were co-winners in The Economist's Innovation Awards in the Computing and Telecommunications category.
Quoted & interviewed widely on product, culture and leadership
Houston conducted high-profile interviews (Forbes, Business Insider, Medium) discussing Dropbox culture, hiring, and product strategy; increased public profile.
Recognized among Fortune '40 Under 40' (citation in press)
Houston was included in Fortune’s '40 Under 40' list in press coverage around mid-2010s.
Appearances at major conferences (e.g., TechCrunch Disrupt 2015)
Spoke publicly at major industry events including TechCrunch Disrupt and other conferences; these appearances are documented in interviews and Q&As.
Publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton (2016 U.S. election)
Houston publicly endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Dropbox user / business milestones and scale
Forbes reported Dropbox had ~500 million registered users, ~200,000 business customers, ~1,500 employees and had become the fastest SaaS to reach $1B revenue run-rate.
Ownership stake reported ~25% (publicly cited)
Public profiles around the IPO period described Houston as ~25% owner of Dropbox (S‑1 noted ~24.4% voting power pre‑IPO).
Dropbox files S‑1 for IPO; Houston held ~24.4% voting power pre‑IPO
Dropbox filed for an IPO in February 2018; SEC filing showed Houston held 24.4% of voting power before the offering.
Dropbox IPO — company goes public (NASDAQ: DBX)
Dropbox completed its initial public offering and began trading on NASDAQ under the ticker DBX (market valuation reported variably in coverage; press cited ~$9–12B ranges).
Invests (or listed as backer) in startup Sourceress
Forbes reported Sourceress raised $13M from backers including Dropbox cofounders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi (investment reported Dec 2019).
Joins Facebook (Meta) board of directors
Facebook announced in a regulatory filing that Drew Houston would join its board of directors, replacing Reed Hastings.
Announces 'virtual first' / remote-first work direction for Dropbox amid COVID-19
Houston discussed and led Dropbox's move to a remote-forward approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping new features for at-home work.
Reported residence in Austin, Texas
Media coverage (CNBC) noted that Drew Houston lives in Austin, Texas — part of a broader migration of tech leaders to Texas.
Announced workforce reduction (~16%) to focus on AI (reported Apr 2023)
Reports indicate Houston announced a ~16% reduction in Dropbox headcount in April 2023 as part of refocusing efforts toward AI-driven products.
Net worth reported by Forbes ~USD 2.2 billion
Forbes profile and multiple bios cite Drew Houston's net worth around $2.2 billion in recent years (figure widely reported across profiles).
Additional restructuring reported (~20% workforce reduction, Oct 2024)
Coverage summarized further restructuring at Dropbox in 2024 with additional workforce reductions reported; company refocus on product evolution cited.
Profiles and bios updated citing continued CEO role at Dropbox
As of 2025 profiles continue to list Houston as Dropbox co-founder and CEO and a member of Facebook/Meta's board.
Key Achievement Ages
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