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Airbnb Inc.’s Joe Gebbia sold more than $1 billion of stock so far this year as shares of the vacation home-rental company he co-founded climbed.
Gebbia most recently unloaded 516,666 Class A shares on July 13 for $71.7 million, bringing the total sold since January to just over $1 billion, according to regulatory filings.
Since stepping down from his full-time role at Airbnb last year, Gebbia, 41, has been selling shares at a steady clip, offloading more than $1.37 billion worth since last July. He remains on the San Francisco-based company’s board, as well as serving as chairman of its nonprofit arm, Airbnb.org.
Gebbia has added $2.9 billion in wealth this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionnaires Index, driven largely by the 70% gain in Airbnb’s shares. He ranks 254th on the list of the world’s 500 richest people with a fortune of $8.8 billion.
His net worth is comprised mostly of Class A common stock, which he’s been selling, and his Class B shares, which give him and his co-founders greater voting power.
Airbnb benefited from shifts in work and lifestyle and pent-up travel demand following the pandemic. The company’s shares closed Monday at $145.36 — up about 49% from a year earlier — despite a cautious second-quarter outlook suggesting rising prices are weighing on consumer appetite for trips.
Gebbia founded Airbnb in 2008 along with Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk. Both Chesky, who is chief executive officer, and Blecharczyk, the chief strategy officer, remain full-time employees and rarely sell shares. Chesky has sold $7.3 million of stock this year, while Blecharczyk hasn’t unloaded any.
Chesky, 41, is ranked 161st on the Bloomberg wealth list with $11.8 billion, while Blecharczyk is 206th at $10.1 billion.
Airbnb didn’t respond to a request for comment on the co-founders’ net worths.
Soon after leaving Airbnb full-time, Gebbia launched a California-based startup called Samara, a design studio that began as an innovation team inside Airbnb. The company builds affordable, tiny private homes in backyards.
Along with recently joining Tesla Inc.’s board, he’s also been active in charity efforts, with donations including $25 million to a Dutch nonprofit developing technologies to rid the oceans of plastics, and another $25 million to the Malala Fund to advocate for girls’ education.
–With assistance from Devon Pendleton and Jack Witzig.
