YouTube has never been profitable. Google only owns it, because they can afford to, and because they believe it's the future of how people will consume video and TV (and I think they are right).
Correct, but as you perfectly know, VCs are not about building companies that turn profits; they are about exiting with more than they initially invested, regardless if someone will pay "more" because they company is really worth it, or because its just popular in SV in this exact moment.
If you dig into YouTube long and deep enough, you will see it being "too crooked to fail" kind of purchase (most Goog board was against it; one of the owners is a family of a big VC name in Valley, etc).
