Rumor has it that You Tube gave a bunch of equity to various large media companies to keep them at bay until a wealthy suitor could be landed. Napster tried to do something similar, but by the time they hit upon the strategy of cutting the media companies in, it was far too late.
If the rumors are true, then the media companies worked the deal in such a way as to screw all the other people who should be getting a piece of the action (like the actors, directors, producers, etc) from the pirated video that made YouTube what it is.