Daily Style Phile: Sean Parker, Silicon Valley’s Socialite Navigates The City That Never Sleeps

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Mr. Parker is a serial entrepreneur who has failed, succeeded, and failed again. A rebellious adolescent, he was only 16 when the FBI arrested him for hacking corporate and military computer networks. According to his recent profile in the New York Time Style section, Sean said that hacking was a way to tap into his obsessions:

“I remember crying and crying, and they had sequestered me in this room, and I overheard these two women talking, F.B.I. agents,” he said. “One of them said, ‘He doesn’t seem like such a bad kid.’ And the other one said: ‘You have no idea. You have no idea what he is into.’ ” [NY Times]

He skipped college and founded Napster (which faced notorious legal troubles), then Plaxo, where his rumored drug abuse got him fired. He later joined Facebook as its president, but was forced out by investors. He is now partnered again with Mark Zuckerberg on his latest venture, a $30 million investment in Spotify. [Photo via]