Photo: Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Ross Ulbricht is a computer scientist, hacker and visual artist, born on March 27, 1984 in Austin, Texas, United States. Ross Ulbricht is 42 years old as of 2026. Schooling on record includes Westlake High School and Pennsylvania State University. Recorded honors include Eagle Scout. Notable works include Silk Road.
My Take
Ross Ulbricht is one of those figures I genuinely don't know how to feel about — and I mean that in the most interesting way possible. Eagle Scout, Penn State physics grad, libertarian idealist from Austin who apparently wanted to build a real-world experiment in free-market economics, and what he built was Silk Road: the darknet marketplace that ran on Tor and Bitcoin before most people had heard of either. The technical ambition alone is kind of staggering — he essentially prototyped the anonymous crypto economy years ahead of everyone else. That doesn't make what happened okay, and the harm caused by the narcotics traded there was real, but the gap between "Eagle Scout kid from Texas" and "most wanted cybercriminal" is so vast it almost feels like fiction.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ross Ulbricht
- Name (Japanese)
- ロス・ウィリアム・ウルブリヒト
- Reading
- ろす・うぃりあむ・うるぶりひと
- Born
- March 27, 1984 (age 42)
- Origin
- Austin, Texas, United States
- Occupation
- computer scientist / hacker / visual artist / motivational speaker
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Rat
2. Background
- High school
- Westlake High School
- University
- Pennsylvania State University
Awards & achievements
- Eagle Scout
3. Works & records
Filmography / notable works
| Category | Title |
|---|---|
| Notable work | Silk Road |
4. Links
5. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was Ross Ulbricht born?
Ross Ulbricht was born on March 27, 1984 and is 42 years old.
Where is Ross Ulbricht from?
Ross Ulbricht is from Austin, Texas, United States.
What does Ross Ulbricht do?
Ross Ulbricht works as computer scientist, hacker, visual artist, motivational speaker.
Where did Ross Ulbricht study?
Ross Ulbricht attended Pennsylvania State University.
What is Ross Ulbricht known for?
Ross Ulbricht's notable works include Silk Road.
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