Drew Houston

Early Career

After attending Acton Boxborough Regional High School, Drew graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in computer science. It was here that he met Arash Ferdowsi, with whom he co-founded Dropbox. Ferdowsi is today the CTO and co-founder of Dropbox as well. On his father’s computer, Drew learnt C on his own, signed up to a game, discovered some security bugs and informed the company. By age 14, he was invited by the same company to work with them. Before starting Dropbox, Houston had already worked on several other startups, including Accolade, Hubspot and Bit9.

Career Highlights

Business Week has named Houston as one of the most talented players in the technology industry. He has gained immense fame and respect in the market at the young age of 30. Dropbox has been rated as one of the most successful investments from Y Combinator. Inc.com also rated Drew as one of the top entrepreneurs under 30 years of age at that time. Dropbox has been called as one of the best startups in the southern San Francisco area. In 2013, Houston also became the co-founder of FWD.us, a lobbying group aimed to lobby for immigration reform and educational improvements.

Reputation

Drew Houston is a humble personality who gives all the credit for his success to Arash and his education at MIT. He recommends others to stay with inspiring people, and aim high for success. He says that the people you spend time with play a great role in building your career and entire personality.

CEO of Dropbox

The inception of Dropbox stemmed from Houston's personal frustration with misplacing USB flash drives during his time at MIT. In 2007, he partnered with Arash Ferdowsi to establish Dropbox, Inc., with initial backing from the seed accelerator Y Combinator. The service officially launched in 2008 and rapidly gained traction, amassing millions of users within its first few years. Under Houston's leadership, Dropbox expanded its offerings beyond basic cloud storage to include collaboration tools like Dropbox Paper. The company went public in March 2018, achieving a valuation of approximately $12 billion.

In recent years, Houston has steered Dropbox through significant transitions, including a shift to a "virtual first" work model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This strategy emphasizes remote work, with physical offices serving as collaborative spaces rather than daily workstations. Facing challenges such as slowing growth in its core business, Houston has focused on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into Dropbox's services. In April 2023, he announced a 16% reduction in the workforce to realign the company's focus towards AI-driven products. By October 2024, further restructuring led to an additional 20% workforce reduction, underscoring the company's commitment to evolving its product offerings in a competitive market.

Throughout his tenure as CEO, Houston has been recognized for his innovative approach to technology and leadership, maintaining Dropbox's position as a significant player in the cloud storage and collaboration industry.

Personal Life

Drew is single, but he seems to be in a serious relationship with CeCe Cheng. She is a graduate from Princeton, and is currently handling PR for Qwiki. Houston likes to sing and he was a part of '90s cover band in college too. In addition, he is fond of video games as well.

Owing to his richness and good looks, he is one of the most eligible bachelors in the country. He is one of the top billionaires in the world at his age.

Drew Houston's Motivational Speech at Stanford University