Andrew 'Drew' W. Houston is an American Internet entrepreneur, the self-made billionaire co-founder and CEO of Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX), the global file storage and sharing service. Born in Acton, Massachusetts, in 1983, his early aptitude for technology began with coding at the age of five. Houston graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2005.

The genesis of Dropbox came in 2007 when Houston, then 24, was traveling on a bus from Boston to New York and realized he had left his USB drive at home. This moment of personal frustration, which he recalled as happening constantly, sparked the idea for a service that would allow users to access files from anywhere—a simple folder that would automatically sync to the cloud. This simple, user-friendly solution became the foundation of his multi-billion dollar empire.

Drew Houston co-founded Dropbox in 2007 with his MIT classmate, Arash Ferdowsi, who dropped out of college to join the venture. Houston's strategic vision was to revolutionize file storage by prioritizing simplicity, reliability, and user-friendly experience (just worked). Despite initial investor skepticism that the service was unnecessary, Houston believed existing solutions were too complicated.

Dropbox quickly achieved viral growth, utilizing a clever referral program to gain over 700 million users globally. The company successfully executed its IPO on the NASDAQ in 2018, securing Houston's multi-billion dollar fortune. He remains the CEO and largest individual shareholder (owning over 20 percent of the company). In 2020, Houston joined the Meta Platforms (Facebook) board of directors, cementing his status as a high-level executive and advisor in the technology governance sphere.

Drew Houston's social impact is structural, stemming from Dropbox's role in revolutionizing cloud storage and digital collaboration for millions of individuals and businesses globally. The platform is foundational to modern remote work and digital life.

He is a co-founder of FWD.us, a lobbying group focused on immigration reform and improvements to education, leveraging his financial influence for public policy change. His career provides an inspirational narrative of a founder who turned a simple, shared problem into a massive, world-changing technology solution.

Drew Houston maintains the casual, high-IQ style of a tech CEO and engineer. His attire is consistently professional and pragmatic, favoring smart casual wear. His aesthetic is one of confident, unostentatious competence, reflecting his focus on product innovation.

Residing in Austin, Texas, his luxury is the immense security and autonomy derived from his multi-billion dollar fortune. His life is dedicated to solving complex problems through elegant software design and his high-level involvement in technology governance.