It is 2025 - who hasn’t heard of the purple platform? Twitch, a video live-streaming platform, is not only a core part of gaming and esports, but it is also one of the go-to entertainment channels in the world. At this point in time, Twitch may even rival mainstream television! 

Twitch is undeniably massive, courtesy of the various content creators on the platform that constantly attract audiences to the platform, as well as, the behind-the-scenes staff who are continuously working to improve the functionality and experience on the site. 

But how did Twitch evolve to become what it is today? What were its origins, who is Twitch’s CEO, and how did it grow? Let’s dive in!

Twitch’s Origin: When was Twitch Created, Who Created Twitch

The video live-streaming platform Twitch was created by a group of entrepreneurs, Justin Kan, Emmett Shear, Michael Seibel, and Kyle Vogt in June 2011.

Initially, the group launched a live-streaming platform called Justin.tv in 2007. The purpose was to allow any user to create their own channels and broadcast their lives. In the early phase of the site, it only featured Justin Kan’s channel and he would livestream his day with a webcam attached on his baseball hat, which is connected to a laptop inside his backpack. He essentially became the first live streamer to create content out of his daily life.  

Justin.tv witnessed immense growth as the live streaming concept attracted attention from the publis. The site had multiple categories on which people could livestream, but the gaming category proved to be the most popular. This led to the duo creating a dedicated live streaming platform for gaming: TwitchTV. 

Twitch grew to become the go-to platform for gamers and content creators, and in 2013, Amazon bought the purple platform for almost $1 billion. The platform has expanded massively since then, boasting an estimated value of $46 billion today. 

Who is the CEO of Twitch?

The current CEO of Twitch is Daniel Joseph Clancy or Dan Clancy for short. The 61-year-old American is a technologist and computer scientist who has worked with multiple high-profile organizations including NASA and Google. 

From 1998 to 2005, Clancy worked with the space research company, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). In the prominent organization, Clancy mainly researched and worked on projects related to artificial intelligence (AI). 

From 2005 to 2012, Clancy worked with Google in various departments. He led research teams, became the public spokesperson for Google during lawsuit settlements, oversaw Engineering and Product Lead at YouTube - and more. Clancy was involved in plenty of projects involving AI and algorithms.

In the next four years, Clancy would work with Nextdoor, a social media site. In 2019, Clancy finally joined Twitch as the Vice President. After the long-time CEO and founder of Twitch, Emmett Shear, stepped down in March 2023, Dan Clancy assumed the role of CEO. He is also responsible for multiple other departments including engineering and product.

After taking up the role of Twitch's CEO, Dan Clancy would appear in Twitch-related events, such as Twitchcon, and interact with the platform's top streamers. He also appeared in podcasts and interviews where he elaborated on Twitch's vision and his thought process as a CEO.