Shawn Fanning Biography
Shawn Fanning is an American entrepreneur, computer programmer, and angel investor best known for being Co-founder and lead software engineer of Napster.
In 2000, Fanning appeared as a presenter at the MTV Video Music Awards. Likewise, in October, Fanning was highlighted on the cover of Time magazine. In 2013, Fanning had a cameo appearance as himself in the film The Italian Job. In the film, Seth Green’s character Lyle accused Fanning of stealing Napster from him while he was taking a rest in the dorm room in their Northeastern University.
At the begging of 2008, he appeared in a Volkswagen commercial directed by Roman Coppola, in which he poked fun at his file-sharing past. In 2013, Fanning and Napster were the subjects of Alex Winter’s documentary Downloaded.
10 Facts About Shawn Fanning
- Name: Shawn Fanning
- Age: 41 years old
- Birthday: 22 November
- Height: 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m)
- Weight: 80 kgs(176 Ibs)
- Nationality: American
- Occupation: Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Angel investor
- Marital Status: Married
- Salary: Under Review
- Networth: $124 million
Shawn Fanning Age and Birthday
Shawn Fanning is 41 years old as of 2021, he was born on November 22, 1980, in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States. He celebrates his birthday on November 22nd every year and his birth sign is Sagittarius.
Shawn Fanning Height and Weight
Fanning stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches(1.78 m). He also weighs about 80 kgs(176 Ibs). His eye color is black whereas his hair color is also black.
Shawn Fanning Family
He is the son of Coleen Fanning and Joe Rando.
Shawn Fanning Wife
Shawn has a wife named Jessica Wigsmoen. The couple is blessed with a daughter though not many details are known about his daughter or wife.
Shawn Fanning Net Worth
Fanning has an estimated net worth of $124 million. He made this fortune by creating many companies. Besides, he is famous as the founder of Napster. Moreover, he is also an angel investor and has done several other ventures.
Shawn Fanning Measurements and Facts
Here are some interesting facts and body measurements you should know about Shawn Fanning.
Shawn Fanning Bio and Wiki
- Full Names: Shawn Fanning
- Gender: Male
- Occupation / Profession: Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Angel investor
- Nationality: American
- Race / Ethnicity: Not Known
- Religion: Not Known
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
Shawn Fanning Birthday
- Age / How Old?: 41 years old
- Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
- Date of Birth: November 22, 1980
- Place of Birth: Brockton, MA, USA
- Birthday: November 22
Shawn Fanning Body Measurements
- Body Measurements: Not Known
- Height / How Tall?: 5 feet 10 inches(1.78 m)
- Weight: 80 kgs(176 Ibs)
- Eye Color: Black
- Hair Color: Black
- Shoe Size: 8(US)
Shawn Fanning Family and Relationship
- Father (Dad): Joe Rando
- Mother: Coleen Fanning
- Siblings (Brothers and Sisters): Not Known
- Marital Status: Married
- Wife/Spouse: Married to Jessica Wigsmoen
- Children: One Daughter
Shawn Fanning Networth and Salary
- Net Worth:$124 million.
- Salary: Under Review
- Source of Income: Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Angel investor
Shawn Fanning House and Cars
- Place of living: Not Known
- Cars: Not Known
Napster Shawn Fanning
Fanning developed Napster, one of the first popular peer-to-peer (“P2P”) file-sharing platforms, on June 1, 1999, and its popularity was widespread and Fanning was featured on the cover of Time magazine. Soon, hundreds of college students at Northeastern were trading music furiously. Sean Parker was the co-founder.
The site in its initial free P2P incarnation was shut down in 2001 after its unsuccessful appeal of court orders arising from its encouraging the illegal sharing and downloading of the copyrighted material.
A paid subscription version of the site followed and was purchased by Rhapsody on December 1, 2011. Following his involvement with Napster, Fanning joined and invested in a number of early-stage technology startup companies.
Shawn Fanning Snocap
In 2002, Fanning was named as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35 at the MIT Technology Review TR100.
In 2003, he opened a new company, Snocap, along with Ron Conway and Jordan Mendelson (Napster’s Chief Architect). The company aspired to be a legitimate marketplace for digital media, thou their partners and the public did not respond well.
The customer support was poor, and technical issues were numerous. One of Snocap’s primary partners, CD Baby, wrote a scathing account of their relationship. In late 2007, Snocap laid off 60% of its workforce.
ValleyWag then wrote an article saying that Fanning had long left Snocap and began to work on another venture, Rupture. The article stated that the failure was largely due to Snocap’s CEO Rusty Rueff and that of former VP Engineering Dave Rowley, who “made a mess of engineering before he was fired”. Snocap was looking to sell itself and fast, and in 2008, they found a buyer; imeem acquired Snocap in a fire sale.
Shawn Fanning Rupture
Fanning developed Rupture in December 2006, a social networking tool designed to handle the task of publishing gamers’ individual profiles to a communal space and facilitating communication between World of Warcraft players.
In 2007, The Rupture project was announced with seed funding, and CrunchBase notes the date Shawn officially became CEO of Rupture was October 2, 2007.
Rupture was later acquired by Electronic Arts for $15 million. Fanning’s career at Electronic Arts lasted the only for a short time as a round of layoffs in November 2009 included him and his team at Rupture
Shawn Fanning Path
Few months after Fanning was laid off from Electronic Arts, he started a new company called Path.com. In January 2010, Dave Morin an American entrepreneur, angel investor, announced he was leaving Facebook, where he was a Senior Platform Manager, to join Fanning and become CEO at Path.
Shawn Fanning Airtime
In 2011, Fanning reunited with Napster Co-founder Sean Parker to found Airtime.com. Other investors are Michael Arrington, Ron Conway, and Ashton Kutcher. Fanning serves as CEO and Parker as executive chairman.
Airtime was launched in June 2012 at a disastrous public event where Parker and Fanning paid huge amounts of money to have celebrities present but the product repeatedly crashed and ultimately failed to work.
Greg Sandoval of CNET commented, “To launch his new start-up, Sean Parker should have spent less of his billions on celebrity guests and more of it on fixing his technology.”
Frequently Asked Questions About Shawn Fanning
Fanning is an American entrepreneur, computer programmer, and angel investor best known for being a Co-founder and lead software engineer of Napster.
Fanning is an American national born on 22nd November 1980, in Brockton, MA.
Fanning stands at a height of 1.78 m.
Yes, he is married to Jessica Wigsmoen. The couple is blessed with a daughter though not many details are known about his daughter or wife.
Fanning has an approximate net worth of $124 million. Furthermore, he was acquired for $15 million by Electronic Arts. Other than being a computer programmer, he has also appeared in a movie and has also done a commercial.
Because of security reasons, Shawn has not shared his precise location of residence. We will immediately update this information if we get the location and images of his house.
Shawn is alive and in good health. There have been no reports of him being sick or having any health-related issues.
Contacts
- Youtube
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- Website
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