Sean Parker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sean Parker
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Parker in 2011
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| Born |
Sean Parker
December 3, 1979 Herndon, Virginia, U.S.
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| Education | Oakton High School Chantilly High School |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, investor |
| Known for | Managing Partner at The Founders Fund Co-founder of Plaxo, Napster, Airtime, and Causes President of Facebook Chairman of the Parker Foundation |
| Spouse(s) |
Alexandra Lenas
(m. 2013) |
| Children | 2 |
Sean Parker (born December 3, 1979) is an American entrepreneur and generous giver. He is famous for helping start Napster, a computer service for sharing files. He was also the first president of the social media website Facebook.
Parker also helped create other companies like Plaxo, Causes, Airtime.com, and Brigade. Brigade is an online platform that helps people get involved in their communities. Today, he leads the Parker Foundation, which supports science, health, and community projects. In 2022, Forbes magazine listed him as a billionaire.
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Early Life and Learning
Sean Parker was born in Herndon, Virginia. His mother, Diane, worked in TV advertising. His father, Bruce, was a government scientist who studied the ocean. When Sean was seven, his dad taught him how to program computers on an Atari 800. His father told him to take risks early in life.
As a teenager, Sean loved hacking and programming. One night, when he was 16, he was exploring a big company's computer network. He couldn't log out of the system because his dad took his keyboard away. Because of this, the FBI found him. Since he was under 18, he had to do community service.
Sean was a big reader when he was young. This helped him learn many things on his own throughout his life. Some people even call him a genius. He says his time at Napster was like his college education. He learned a lot about law, money, and starting businesses.
School Days and Early Work
Sean went to Oakton High School for two years. Then he moved to Chantilly High School in 1996. While there, he wrote a letter to the school. He convinced them to count his time coding in the computer lab as a foreign language class. By his senior year, he was mostly writing code and starting companies. He graduated in 1998.
While in high school, he worked for Mark Pincus. Pincus later became the CEO of Zynga. Sean won a state computer science fair for creating a web crawler. He was even asked to work for the CIA. By his last year of high school, Sean was earning over $80,000 a year. This was enough money to convince his parents to let him skip college. He decided to focus on becoming an entrepreneur instead.
Sean Parker's Ventures
Napster's Music Revolution
When Sean was 15, he met Shawn Fanning, who was 14, online. They became friends over topics like programming and hacking. A few years later, Parker and Fanning started Napster. It was a free service for sharing music files. Parker raised the first $50,000. They launched Napster in June 1999.
Within a year, millions of people were using Napster. But music companies and bands like Metallica did not like it. Lawsuits eventually caused the service to shut down. Still, Napster was one of the fastest-growing businesses ever. It changed the music industry and was a step towards services like iTunes.
Plaxo: Early Social Networking
In November 2002, Parker launched Plaxo. This was an online address book and social networking service. It worked with Microsoft Outlook. Plaxo was one of the first social networking tools. It helped other companies like LinkedIn, Zynga, and Facebook grow. Plaxo gained 20 million users quickly. After two years, Parker left the company.
Facebook's First President
In 2004, Parker saw a website called "The Facebook" on his roommate's computer. His roommate's girlfriend, a student at Stanford, was using it. Parker had experience with social networks. He had advised Friendster earlier.
Parker met with Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin. A few months later, he joined the five-month-old company as its president. Peter Thiel said Parker was the first to see that Facebook could become "really big."
As president, Parker helped bring in Thiel as Facebook's first investor. He also helped Zuckerberg keep control of the company. Parker is also said to have helped make Facebook's design simple. He also developed its photo-sharing feature. Zuckerberg said that Sean was very important in helping Facebook become a real company.
Later, Parker stepped down as president. However, he stayed involved with Facebook's growth. He met with Zuckerberg often. His time at Facebook was even shown in the movie The Social Network. In 2017, Parker said he worried about Facebook's role in society. He felt it used a "social-validation feedback loop" in human psychology. He said he was "something of a conscientious objector" to using social media himself.
Founders Fund Investments
In 2006, Parker became a managing partner at Founders Fund. This is a venture-capital fund in San Francisco. It invests in new companies. Parker had a lot of freedom to find investments. In 2014, he left Founders Fund to work on other projects.
Spotify: Music Streaming
While at Founders Fund, Parker wanted to invest in a company that could share music legally, like a new Napster. In 2009, he learned about Spotify, a music-streaming service from Sweden. Parker contacted Spotify's founder, Daniel Ek. In 2010, Parker invested $15 million in Spotify.
Parker was on Spotify's board until 2017. He helped Spotify make deals with big music companies. In July 2011, Spotify launched in the U.S. Parker also announced a partnership between Facebook and Spotify. This allowed users to share their Spotify playlists on Facebook.
Brigade Media and Civic Engagement
In April 2014, Parker announced his support for Brigade. This is an online platform for civic engagement. It aims to help people get more involved in government. Parker is the Executive Chairman of Brigade. He provided $9.3 million for the first funding round.
In 2014, Brigade bought Causes, an online platform for social and political action. Parker believes that politics is an area that can be greatly changed by the internet.
Giving Back: Philanthropy
Since 2005, Sean Parker has given a lot of money to help others. He supports cancer research, global public health, and community involvement. In 2012, he gave $5 million to help create a team for cancer immunotherapy research. In 2014, he pledged $24 million to start the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research at Stanford. He also supported malaria elimination and autoimmune research.
Parker supports many groups. These include Code for America, Stand Up to Cancer, and the Clinton Foundation.
In 2007, Parker started Causes. It was one of the first Facebook applications. It helped connect charities with supporters and donors. By 2013, 186 million people had joined Causes. They donated over $50 million to 60,000 non-profits.
The Parker Foundation
In June 2015, Parker announced a $600 million gift to start the Parker Foundation. This foundation focuses on three main areas: life sciences, global public health, and civic engagement. It tries to solve big problems by combining ideas, money, science, and technology.
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
In April 2016, Parker gave $250 million to create the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. This money went to over 300 scientists in 40 laboratories at six institutions.
Starting in 2016, scientists at the Parker Institute funded a study. They tested new cancer-fighting cells using CRISPR gene-editing technology. This was the first time CRISPR-modified cells were tested in humans in the United States.
In 2017, a study from Parker Institute researchers showed something interesting. Melanoma patients with certain types of bacteria in their gut responded better to cancer treatment. Based on this, the Parker Institute is working on a new study. It will look at how gut bacteria affect cancer treatment.
Board Memberships
Parker also serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations:
- Obama Foundation
- Global Citizen
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
- Parker Foundation
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Awards and Recognition
In 2015, Parker was ranked number five on Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of top givers. In 2018, Wired magazine called him an "Icon" for his work in DNA programming and gene editing for cancer. He has also been named one of Town and Country's Top 50 Philanthropists. Time magazine included him in its Healthcare 50 list. In 2016, he received an award from the Vatican for his cancer work.
Political Involvement
Sean Parker has given money to both major political parties in the U.S. He supports politicians who are willing to work together. He has supported Democrats and causes like campaign finance reform and gun control. He has also spoken in favor of higher taxes for wealthy people.
Parker has also supported Republican candidates who are moderate. He likes candidates who want to compromise and make deals. He has met with lawmakers to discuss ways to help struggling communities.
For the 2016 presidential election, Parker created a social ballot guide. This helped voters pledge to vote and encourage others.
Parker also played a big part in creating "Opportunity Zones." These are parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. They encourage investments in struggling American communities.
Personal Life
In 2011, Sean Parker got engaged to Alexandra Lenas, a singer-songwriter. They got married in 2013. They have a daughter and a son.
Big Sur Wedding
On June 1, 2013, Parker married Alexandra Lenas in Big Sur, California. At the wedding, every guest was given a The Lord of the Rings-style costume. The wedding was very elaborate.
The wedding caused some discussion about its impact on the redwood forest. Parker worked with the Save the Redwoods League to address concerns. There were some issues with permits for the venue. As part of a settlement, Parker gave $2.5 million and helped create a beach-mapping app.
Images for kids
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Parker in 2011
See also
In Spanish: Sean Parker para niños
