This may be news to the venture capitalists at Sequoia Capital that have invested $11.5 million into YouTube, but Chad Hurley, CEO of the online video Web site, said the company is definitely not for sale.

In response to a question on that topic from Kara Swisher on a panel discussion at the Always On conference, Hurley said, “No, we want to stay independent. That’s the best place to be in the media space.”

That should put the issue to rest. No more billion dollar takeover rumors, right? Wrong.

However, it is interesting to note how different Hurley’s response to takeover questions was from the answer given at the same conference last year by Skype board member Tim Draper on the same topic. At the time, rumors were flying about a Skype takeover and rather than deny the speculation outright, Draper laughed off suggestions that the company had considered a sale at the price of $100 million. The company agreed to a sale to eBay for $2.6 billion two months later.

What Hurley didn’t say is that most big media companies supposedly interested in purchasing YouTube are fearful of the liability they would be taking on in buying a startup storing and distributing so much illicit video material. It’s one thing for a startup to take on that risk, but quite another for a billion dollar media giant. So, until that’s sorted out, I believe Hurley when he says the company is not for sale.

For more on the Always On conference, see:
Always On webcast

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