# Sean Parker ![rw-book-cover](https://www.britannica.com/money/money/opengraph-image.png?0ca1ca22e32fe0d6) ## Metadata - Author: [[britannica.com]] - Full Title: Sean Parker - Category: #articles - Summary: Sean Parker is an American entrepreneur who co-founded Napster and was Facebook's first president. He helped Facebook get funding and kept Mark Zuckerberg in control. Parker later worked in venture capital and started a philanthropic foundation focused on health and science. - URL: https://www.britannica.com/money/Sean-Parker ## Highlights - **Sean Parker** (born December 3, 1979) is an American entrepreneur who cofounded the [file-sharing](https://www.britannica.com/technology/file-sharing) service [Napster in 1999](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Napster) and was the first president (2004–05) of the [social networking](https://www.britannica.com/technology/social-network) [site](https://www.britannica.com/technology/website) [Facebook](https://www.britannica.com/money/Facebook). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k1fay4epjfrf1twnm5853j1r)) - Parker was such an avid coder that he was able to secure internships while still in [high school](https://www.britannica.com/topic/high-school). During his senior year he earned more than $80,000 from his internships and other out-of-school pursuits. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k1fayd1p8cep276sngwkcvmz)) - At the age of 16 he was tracked and discovered by the [Federal Bureau of Investigation](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation) (FBI) for hacking into the [computer network](https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer-network) of a major corporation and was sentenced to perform community service. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k1fayzcac7ncmtvx2wss084t)) - In 2001, as a result of a lawsuit by the [Recording Industry Association of America](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Recording-Industry-Association-of-America), Napster was shut down for illegally distributing copyrighted materials. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k1fb01253fbd9m3c1g61h4mt)) - Parker encouraged Zuckerberg to drop out of Harvard to devote himself to the social network and helped negotiate financing for Facebook from [Paypal](https://www.britannica.com/money/PayPal) cofounder [Peter Thiel](https://www.britannica.com/money/Peter-Thiel) and the [venture capital](https://www.britannica.com/money/venture-capital) firm Accel Partners. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01k1fb1mc4q6cre2atzqcdb3mp))