Dropbox overview
Dropbox makes software for storing, syncing and sharing files. Its flagship service, Dropbox, keeps a folder of files identical across a person’s computers and phones and lets people share files with a link, and it had more than 700 million registered users and about 18 million paying users at the end of 2025. The company also sells Dropbox Sign for electronic signatures, DocSend for sharing documents with viewer analytics, the AI scheduling app Reclaim.ai and Dash, an AI-powered search tool for business teams.
Drew Houston came up with the idea as a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after repeatedly forgetting the USB drive he used to carry his files. In 2007 he founded the company, originally named Evenflow, Inc., with fellow MIT student Arash Ferdowsi, and it took part in the Y Combinator startup program before moving to San Francisco that September. The service opened to the public in September 2008, and the company changed its name to Dropbox, Inc. in 2009.
Easy syncing, word-of-mouth recommendations, in-product referrals and shared folders drove rapid growth, and Dropbox passed 100 million users in 2012. It moved most of its users’ data from third-party cloud providers onto its own custom-built infrastructure and went public on the Nasdaq in March 2018 at $21 per share. Since then it has bought HelloSign in 2019 and DocSend in 2021, made remote work the default for employees under a Virtual First policy announced in 2020, and cut about 16 percent of its workforce in 2023 and 20 percent in 2024 as growth slowed.
Dropbox’s revenue was about $2.52 billion in 2025, slightly lower than the year before, and it had 2,113 full-time employees at the end of that year. The company reincorporated in Nevada in 2025 and has been trying to reposition itself around AI. In May 2026 Houston, who had led the company for 19 years, named Ashraf Alkarmi as co-CEO and said he would become executive chairman after a transition period, with Alkarmi then serving as sole chief executive.
Software by Dropbox
3 products profiled, from Dropbox (2008) to DocSend (2014).
- DropboxCloud storage that syncs and shares files across every device Productivity & Collaboration 2008 Freemium
- Dropbox SignElectronic signatures and signing workflows, formerly known as HelloSign Productivity & Collaboration 2012 Subscription
- DocSendSecure document sharing with page-by-page viewer analytics Productivity & Collaboration 2014 Subscription
Dropbox history and milestones
- 2007
Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi found Evenflow, Inc., the company behind Dropbox, and take part in Y Combinator.
- 2008
Dropbox opens to the public in September and raises a $6 million Series A led by Sequoia Capital.
- 2009
The company renames itself Dropbox, Inc. and acquires the dropbox.com domain.
- 2012
Dropbox passes 100 million users.
- 2018
Dropbox goes public on the Nasdaq in March under the ticker DBX.
- 2019
Dropbox acquires e-signature company HelloSign in a deal valued at about $230 million.
- 2020
Dropbox announces Virtual First, making remote work the default for its employees.
- 2021
Dropbox buys document sharing startup DocSend for about $165 million.
- 2022
HelloSign is renamed Dropbox Sign, and Dropbox acquires the online forms company FormSwift.
- 2024
Dropbox introduces Dash for Business and cuts about 20 percent of its workforce.
- 2025
Dropbox reincorporates in Nevada, and Ross Tennenbaum becomes chief financial officer in December.
- 2026
Ashraf Alkarmi becomes co-CEO alongside Drew Houston, who plans to become executive chairman.
Who founded Dropbox?
Drew Houston
Co-founder; CEO since 2007 and co-CEO since May 2026
Drew Houston was born in 1983 in Acton, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he met Arash Ferdowsi. While in college he also co-founded an SAT preparation company, and the frustration of carrying files between computers on a USB drive led him to start building Dropbox in 2007.
Houston has run Dropbox since its founding, taking it through Y Combinator, its 2018 initial public offering and several rounds of restructuring as the company invested in AI products such as Dash. He chairs the board and controls most of the company’s voting power through Class B shares. In May 2026 he appointed Ashraf Alkarmi as co-CEO and said he planned to move into the role of executive chairman.
Arash Ferdowsi
Co-founder; chief technology officer from 2007 to 2016
Arash Ferdowsi was born in 1985 in Overland Park, Kansas, to parents who had emigrated from Iran, and studied electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. He left the university in his final semester to build Dropbox with Drew Houston in 2007, after which the young company moved to San Francisco.
Ferdowsi served as Dropbox’s chief technology officer from June 2007 to October 2016 and sat on its board of directors from the company’s founding, including through its 2018 initial public offering, until March 2020, when he resigned from the board and as an officer of the company.
How Dropbox makes money
Dropbox makes almost all of its money from subscriptions. Anyone can use a free Basic account with 2 GB of storage, and the company works to convert those users to paid personal plans such as Plus or to team plans such as Standard, Advanced and Enterprise, which add storage, file recovery, administration and security controls. More than 90 percent of revenue comes through self-serve channels, where customers sign up and pay online, and Dropbox had about 575,000 paying business teams at the end of 2025.
Its other products add further subscription revenue. Dropbox Sign is priced by license or by transaction volume, DocSend sells per-license plans, and Dash is offered to teams for an additional fee. Average revenue per paying user was about $140 in mid-2026, and with revenue roughly flat, the company has returned much of its cash flow to shareholders through stock buybacks, announcing a new $900 million repurchase program in June 2026.
Who owns and runs Dropbox?
Co-founder Drew Houston, who has led Dropbox since 2007 and chairs its board, has shared the chief executive role with Ashraf Alkarmi since May 26, 2026. Alkarmi, previously general manager of the core Dropbox business, is expected to become sole CEO when Houston moves to executive chairman. Ross Tennenbaum is chief financial officer, and Karen Peacock is lead independent director. Dropbox is listed on the Nasdaq, but Houston holds nearly all of its Class B shares, which carry 10 votes each, giving him about 82 percent of the total voting power as of March 2026.
- Drew HoustonCo-founder, co-CEO and chair of the board
- Ashraf AlkarmiCo-CEO
- Ross TennenbaumChief financial officer
- Arash FerdowsiCo-founder; chief technology officer from 2007 to 2016
Dropbox: frequently asked questions
Who founded Dropbox?
Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, who met as students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Houston came up with the idea after repeatedly forgetting the USB drive he used to carry files, and Ferdowsi left MIT in his final semester to build the company with him.
Who owns Dropbox?
Dropbox is a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker DBX. Co-founder Drew Houston holds nearly all of its high-vote Class B shares, which gave him about 82 percent of total voting power in 2026, while investment firms such as Vanguard and BlackRock hold large amounts of its Class A stock.
Who is the CEO of Dropbox?
Dropbox has two co-CEOs: co-founder Drew Houston and Ashraf Alkarmi. Houston led Dropbox on his own from 2007 until May 26, 2026, when Alkarmi, previously general manager of its core business, became co-CEO. Houston plans to become executive chairman after a transition period, leaving Alkarmi as sole CEO.
Where is Dropbox headquartered?
Dropbox is headquartered in San Francisco, California, where the company moved in September 2007, a few months after it was started in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 2020 it has operated under a Virtual First model in which remote work is the primary experience for employees, who meet in person several times a year.
What software does Dropbox make?
Dropbox’s main product is its cloud storage and file sync service. It also sells Dropbox Sign for electronic signatures, DocSend for secure document sharing with analytics, Dash for AI-powered search across work apps and Reclaim.ai for AI scheduling, along with tools such as Dropbox Backup, Dropbox Replay and Dropbox Transfer.
Is Dropbox a public company?
Yes. Dropbox went public on the Nasdaq in March 2018 under the ticker DBX, pricing its shares at $21 in its initial public offering. Its dual-class share structure gives co-founder Drew Houston most of the voting power, and the company reincorporated from Delaware to Nevada in 2025.
Sources
- Dropbox investor relations investors.dropbox.com
- Dropbox, Inc. current report on Form 8-K announcing co-CEO appointment, May 2026 sec.gov
- Dropbox, Inc. annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 sec.gov
- Dropbox Announces Second Quarter 2026 Results investors.dropbox.com
- Dropbox, Inc. 2026 proxy statement sec.gov
- Dropbox, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
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