Sean Parker
American entrepreneur, programmer and philanthropist
Sean Parker (born December 3, 1979) is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, most notable for co-founding the file-sharing computer service Napster, and was the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also co-founded Plaxo, Causes, Airtime.com, and Brigade, an online platform for civic engagement. He is the founder and chairman of the Parker Foundation, which focuses on life sciences, global public health, and civic engagement. According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Parker's estimated net worth stood at US$3.0 billion, placing him in the top 1,250 richest individuals in the world.
Early life
Parker was born in Herndon, Virginia, to Diane Parker, a TV advertising broker, and Bruce Parker, a U.S. government oceanographer and chief scientist at NOAA. When Parker was seven, his father taught him how to program on an Atari 800. Parker's father, who put his family before his entrepreneurial dreams, told Parker, "if you are going to take risks, take them early before you have a family." In his teens, Parker's hobbies were hacking and programming. One night, while hacking into the network of a Fortune 500 company, Parker was unable to log out after his father confiscated his computer keyboard. Because his IP address was exposed, FBI agents tracked down the 16-year-old. Since Parker was under 18, he was sentenced to community service.
Education
Parker attended Oakton High School in Fairfax County, Virginia for two years before transferring to Chantilly High School in 1996 for his junior and senior years.
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