Emmett Shear Height, Weight, Age, Education, Family

Emmett Shear is an American entrepreneur, investor, and programmer who is best known as the co-founder of Justin.tv, a website created in 2007 that allowed anyone to broadcast a wide variety of user-generated live video content. In June 2011, it was decided that the gaming content of Justin.tv would be spun off under a separate brand. It was named TwitchTV, inspired by the term ‘twitch gameplay’ (a type of video game scenario that tests a player’s response time). In August 2011, Emmett was named the CEO of Justin.tv and he remained in that role as the company rebranded around Twitch (which had quickly become its core product) in 2014. He served as the CEO of Twitch until March 2023. In November 2023, he briefly served as the interim CEO of OpenAI (an American organization that conducts research that could lead to the development and promotion of friendly artificial intelligence). This happened after the incumbent CEO Sam Altman was dramatically removed by the company’s board of directors. Emmett served as the interim CEO of OpenAI for barely a couple of days as Sam was reinstated – following significant pressure from the employees and investors of OpenAI.

Born Name

Emmett Shear

Nick Name

Emmett

Age

He was born in the year 1983.

Born Place

Seattle, King County, Washington, United States

Residence

San Francisco, California, United States

Nationality

Education

Emmett had attended The Evergreen School (formerly known as The Evergreen School for Gifted Children), an independent school in Shoreline, King County, Washington, that serves highly capable students from preschool to 8th grade.

After graduating high school, he joined Yale University, a private Ivy League (a group of 8 private research universities in the Northeastern United States that symbolize academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism) university in New Haven, Connecticut. He studied computer science there and earned a Bachelor of Science degree.

Occupation

Entrepreneur, Investor, Programmer

Family

• Father – Kenneth Shear
• Mother – Mary Bennett
• Siblings – Adam Shear (Younger Brother)

Build

Slim

Height

5 ft 11 in or 180.5 cm

Weight

72 kg or 158.5 lbs

Girlfriend / Spouse

In March 2023, it was reported that Emmett’s resignation as the CEO of Twitch was largely related to the fact that he wanted to focus on raising his newborn son. However, as he likes to keep his private life away from the media spotlight, the name of the baby’s mother remains a well-guarded secret.

Race / Ethnicity

White

He is of American descent.

Hair Color

Dark Brown

Eye Color

Green

Sexual Orientation

Straight

Distinctive Features

• Lanky frame
• Side-parted, receding hair
• Often sports a rugged stubble
• Affable smile

Emmett Shear Facts

1. While studying at The Evergreen School, Emmett made an acquaintance with fellow future entrepreneur Justin Kan – when he was about 8 years old. They would go on to co-found the live video platform Justin.tv in 2007.
2. At school, they had bonded through their shared love for Magic: The Gathering (a tabletop and digital collectible card game). The duo also attended Yale University together.
3. Emmett and Justin had applied to the inaugural class of Y Combinator (a technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005 that is known for having launched numerous successful ventures including Airbnb and Reddit) in 2005. As part of Y Combinator, they built a calendar application called Kiko which they eventually sold for USD 250k.
4. In June 2011, by when Justin.tv had become one of the largest live video platforms in the world, Emmett was appointed as a part-time partner at Y Combinator. His role was to offer advice to new tech startups in each batch that joined the startup accelerator.
5. In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated nearly USD 1 million to help a non-profit organization that ordered meals from restaurants and bakeries in San Francisco and delivered them to people in need.

Featured Image by Gearrice / Instagram