Drew Houston, the co-founder who turned a simple file-syncing idea into one of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable brands, is stepping down as CEO of Dropbox. The announcement, disclosed via regulatory filing on May 26, marks the end of a 19-year run at the top of the company he started at age 24.
Houston won’t disappear entirely. He’ll first share the corner office as co-CEO alongside Ashraf Alkarmi, Dropbox’s former product chief, before eventually moving into the executive chairman seat.
From MIT dorm room to the Nasdaq
Houston, then a student at MIT, founded the company in 2007 after repeatedly forgetting his USB drive. Dropbox went public in 2018 under the ticker DBX, making it one of the first Y Combinator companies to reach public markets.
Houston is now 43. He spent his entire adult career building one company.
