Ross William Ulbricht: The Silk Road Saga

Ross William Ulbricht: The Silk Road Saga In a world where the internet connects us all in strange and sometimes wonderful ways, one man's name stands out as a symbol of a wild, underground marketplace: Ross William Ulbricht. To some, he’s the "Dread Pirate Roberts" (a name he picked from a movie, no less); to others, he’s the face behind Silk Road, a notorious online marketplace that allowed people to buy and sell just about anything, with a heavy emphasis on illegal stuff. Yeah, it’s one of those stories. Who Was Ross Ulbricht? Ross William Ulbricht was just your average guy—or so it seemed. Born in 1984, he was smart, well-educated, and had a pretty good future ahead of him. He attended the University of Texas at Dallas, studying physics and chemistry. But here’s the thing: sometimes being smart just isn’t enough to avoid making some seriously questionable life choices. In 2011, Ross, at the age of 26, launched Silk Road, an online marketplace that would eventually make headlines for all the wrong reasons.