Sean Parker

92
Sean Parker bigraphy, stories - American internet technology entrepreneur

Sean Parker : biography

1979 –

Sean Parker (born 1979) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded the file-sharing computer service Napster and served as the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also co-founded Plaxo, Causes, and Airtime.Bertoni, Steven. . Forbes. September 21, 2011.Kirkpatrick, David. . Vanity Fair. October 2010.Tsukayama, Hayley. . The Washington Post. July 14, 2011.Adegoke, Yinka. . Reuters. June 5, 2012. As of March 2012, Parker’s net worth was estimated to be US$2.1 billion.

In popular culture

Parker was portrayed by Justin Timberlake in the 2010 film, The Social Network. The movie is a fictionalized account of Facebook’s founding and early days.Gustin, Sam. . Wired. January 25, 2011.Albanesius, Chloe. . PCWorld. February 28, 2011.Dargis, Manhola. . The New York Times. Timberlake was praised for his performance portraying Parker as a cocky opportunist.Marikar, Sheila. . ABC News. September 30, 2010.

Although Parker praised David Fincher as a director, many have remarked on the differences between Parker and his portrayal by Timberlake.. The Next Web. January 23, 2011.. The Daily Beast. September 30, 2010. Former Facebook growth chief Chamath Palihapitiya noted that Parker is "really the exact opposite of his portrayal in the film". Parker took issue with the movie version of Eduardo Saverin’s exit from Facebook (with whom Parker reportedly remains friends), as it ironically paralleled his own exit from Plaxo. Parker called the character a "morally reprehensible human being," although he noted that "it’s hard to complain about being played by a sex symbol."White, Charlie. . Mashable. January 23, 2011.

In 2011 Parker was a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, featured on the cover of the Forbes 400 issue, and was profiled in Vanity Fair.Cavin, Cory. . Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. October 4, 2011.. Forbes. October 18, 2011.

Ventures

Napster

When Parker was 15, he met 14 year-old Shawn Fanning over the Internet, where the two bonded over topics like theoretical physics and hacking.Levy, Steven. . The Daily Beast. June 4, 2000. A few years later Fanning and Parker co-founded Napster, a free file-sharing service for music. Parker raised the initial $50,000, and they launched Napster in June 1999.Rosoff, Matt. . Business Insider. October 17, 2011. Within a year, the service had tens of millions of users. Napster was opposed by recording labels, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the heavy metal band Metallica, among others. Lawsuits by various industry associations eventually shut down the service. Napster has been called the fastest growing business of all time, is credited with revolutionizing the music industry, and served as a precursor to iTunes.Pruitt, Scarlett. . PC World. September 6, 2002.Waters, Darren. . BBC News.Cooper, Charles. . CNET. August 6, 2004.. Forbes. May 28, 2003.Konrad, Rachel. . CNET. October 5, 2000.

Plaxo

In November 2002, Parker subsequently launched Plaxo, an online address book and social networking service that integrated with Microsoft Outlook. Plaxo was one of the first products to build virality into its launch, and that earned it 20 million users.. Hot Hardware. May 25, 2008.Kalyanam, Kirthi; Shelby McIntyre, J Todd Masonis (2007). . Journal of Interactive Marketing. Plaxo was an early social networking tool, which would later influence the growth of companies like LinkedIn, Zynga and Facebook.Bertoni, Steven. . Forbes. September 21, 2011. “It sounds boring compared to Napster and Facebook, but Plaxo was an early social networking tool and a pioneer of the types of viral tricks that helped grow LinkedIn, Zynga and Facebook. “Plaxo is like the indie band that the public doesn’t know but was really influential with other musicians,” Parker says.” Two years after founding Plaxo, Parker was ousted by the company’s financiers, Sequoia Capital and Ram Shriram, in an acrimonious exit that reportedly involved the investors hiring private investigators to follow him. "During the post-bubble downturn, Parker got pushed out by Sequoia Capital and Ram Shriram, and there’s been silence over the real reasons ever since. There were reports of private investigators going after Parker."Kirkpatrick, David. The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World. Simon and Schuster, May 3, 2011. "Finally they booted him out. In the end they even hired a private investigator to document his alleged misbehavior.