Dropbox, Inc.
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Founders
Drew Houston, Arash Ferdowsi · Founded 2007 · San Francisco, California
Quick Answer
Dropbox was founded by Drew Houston, Arash Ferdowsi in 2007 in San Francisco, California. The company is currently led by Drew Houston.
Dropbox began in 2007 after Drew Houston grew frustrated with unreliable file transfer and sync options. He and Arash Ferdowsi built a product that made files follow users across devices without manual configuration. The simple user experience, freemium model, and referral-driven growth turned Dropbox into one of the defining consumer and small-business cloud apps of its era.
Co-founder who built the original Dropbox prototype and led the company from startup through IPO and beyond.
Houston's core insight was that file sync should feel automatic and reliable across devices.
Co-founder who joined Houston to build the early product and engineering foundation.
Ferdowsi helped turn the prototype into a scalable product with a simple mainstream user experience.
Drew Houston
Co-founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer
Created Dropbox and led the company through consumer growth, business expansion, IPO, and the current AI/workflow transition.
Ashraf Alkarmi
Co-Chief Executive Officer
Appointed co-CEO effective May 26, 2026 to lead the next product and operating phase.
Arash Ferdowsi
Co-founder
Helped build Dropbox's early product, engineering culture, and user experience.
Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi.
The company started to solve a practical problem: keeping files synchronized across devices without manual transfer.
The important early decision was making sync simple enough for mainstream users and spreading through a freemium referral model.