Co-founder of Napster that once shook the world: Who is Sean Parker?

Due to this and similar events, he had tough arguments with his father during his teenage years. In fact, his father took the computer from him for a while and banned it. But Sean, who was seen as a mischievous child in his father's eyes at that time, did not disappoint his family, who worried about his future in his teenage years.

Today, Sean Parker's name is behind many successful startups. Napster, Plaxo, Causes, Airtime.com, and Brigade are the most well-known startups.

Sean Parker was born in Virginia, USA, as the son of a TV ad broker mother and an oceanographer father. The family attached great importance to the education of their sons. However, the fact that Sean had an unconventional structure compared to his peers due to his interests and behaviors sometimes forced his family.

In fact, his deviant personality corresponds to the individual who is named autodidact in the literature and who has completed his education on his own and with his methods. Already, the information obtained from his close circle is that he has been very interested in reading since his childhood. However, his understanding of education is not as predicted by an institution called a school, contrary to the general perception.

He had the view that the way to educate and develop himself is not through school. He chose the subjects and methods he would work on, and made readings in line with his own will. Because of this, his circle often referred to him as a "genius".

The fact that he overcame some difficulties in his high school life without resorting to his family provides proof of how smart he is. Sean Parker is having a hard time passing foreign language classes when he is a senior in high school. It is known that he spent all of his time in this period writing coding.

Later, Sean Parker decides to write a letter to the school board. In this letter, he asks that he spends his time writing coding in the laboratory and asks them to count this effort into his foreign language lesson. This request is accepted.

His brilliant mind brings success to Parker in a short time. He starts to earn money thanks to the web browser he developed during this time. Thus, at a young age, Sean Parker proved his success to his family with his monthly income. The monthly wage he earned at the age of 18 is recorded as $80,000.

Napster Adventure

Sean Parker is finally graduating high school, under pressure from his family. He then meets Shawn Fanning, co-founder of Napster. To help him with this venture, he decides to move to San Francisco. Shortly after, the two partners launch Napster when the calendars show 1999.

Napster is a free digital audio streaming platform. Here, the two partners manage to revolutionize the music industry. Thus, Parker and Fanning determine the direction of the world's music consumption habits. Napster is already considered by many to be the forerunner of iTunes.

Parker and Fanning achieve more than their expected target in a year. Napster reaches tens of millions of users. Sean Parker states that he always saw his time at Napster as an education. He even sees Napster as a university in its own right. It is known that he often referred to the company he founded as "Napster University".

However, this successful attempt, unfortunately, has to come to an end after a short time. Platforma is being sued by record companies, the Recording Industry Association of America, and one of the world-renowned music groups Metallica. As a result of the lawsuit, a decision is made to shut down Napster.

Sean Parker After Napster

As the calendars hit 2002, Sean Parker launches Plaxo, a social networking platform that functions as an online address book. However, he cannot achieve the stability he desires. After 2 years, he is dismissed by Sequoia Capital and Ram Shriram, one of the platform's financiers.

For Parker, every attempt that ends almost gives birth to a new one. He is a master at turning crises into opportunities. At the same time, it would not be wrong to say that Sean Parker has a very visionary character.

Collaboration with Facebook is one of the striking examples of its visionary nature. Parker, who accidentally sees the text "The Facebook" on his friend's computer, immediately starts to research the platform. Then he meets up with Mark Zuckerberg. After speaking to him, Parker is deeply convinced that Facebook will be a growing star. He is appointed as chairman of the company.

His move to join Facebook has led to Parker being called "the first investor to see Facebook's potential" by those around him. Although he is appreciative of this move, after a year, his name is involved in bad events.

In 2005, Parker's name is associated with a drug incident. Namely: A raid is carried out on the house he rented for a party that night. He is arrested by the police for drug possession. However, he is not tried and is released.

After this news, Facebook officials take action. Executives are asking Parker to resign, as his name has been on the drug news. Parker does not break their request and immediately resigns.

Although he has cut off his relationship with Facebook on paper, it is among the rumors that he is in constant communication with Mark Zuckerberg and holds meetings.

After the rumors about him, Parker continues his working life without slowing down. This time his stop is Fonders Found. He served as a managing partner here from 2006 to 2014. During his time here, he aims to invest in a music company. He finally discovers Spotify through a friend.

Parker contacts Daniel Ek, co-founder of Spotify in 2009. After talking with him for more than a year, he makes his decision. It is known that Parker invested around $15 million in Spotify in 2010.

In addition, after a while, Parker signs an agreement between Facebook and Spotify. On one night he attended, he explained that Facebook users will be able to share Spotify playlists on their profiles.

In addition to his entrepreneurial identity, Parker is a philanthropist and philanthropist, so to speak. He pays great attention to issues such as cancer research and global public health. He closely follows foundations and organizations in this field. Besides that, he is also known to be an active donor.

In 2012, he gives a $5 million grant to the Cancer Research Institute. It is also donating $4.5 million to the community founded for the Malaria Prevention Initiative at the Global Health Group in San Francisco.

In June 2015, Sean Parker establishes his eponymous Parker Foundation. This foundation; life sciences focuses on three main topics: global public health and civic engagement. After a year, he gives the good news that will make cancer patients happy.

It is announcing that it has donated approximately $250 million to the founding of the Parker Cancer Immunotherapy Institute. It is known that he has donated more than 600 million dollars to public health.