Ross William Ulbricht
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Ross William Ulbricht | |
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| File:Ross-william-ullbricht.jpg Ross William Ulbricht | |
| Born | (age 29) |
| Alma mater | University Of Texas |
| Known for | Creating Silk Road (marketplace) drug marketplace. |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Silk Road (marketplace) |
| Thesis | Growth of EuO Thin Films By Molecular Beam Epitaxy. |
Ross William Ulbricht (also known as “Dread Pirate Roberts”) is the alleged developer and owner of the Silk Road website, the largest illegal drug dealing operation in internet history. The site connected drug dealers and drug buyers all over the world and was like an ebay equivalent for buying drugs online. The site ran as a hidden service on the Tor anonymizer network, making it particularly hard for the authorities to locate. Silk Road made over $1.2 million worth of bitcoins in revenue during the 4 years it was active, and until it was raided and shut down by the FBI on October 2nd 2013.
Ross Ulbricht was arrested after after the authorities followed a lead that tied his real identity to one of the online message board accounts that he used for a short period of time to advertise Silk Road several years earlier.
Investigation and arrest
Agents attempting to track the Silk Road founder looked back into early promotion of the site, looking at messages posted on drug discussion forums and WordPress blogs by a user named “altoid”. Agents tracked this name to a Gmail address, which they then claim was registered to Ulbricht.
FBI agents then began surveillance of Ulbricht, who they say was living in San Francisco under an assumed name, attempting to match his internet activity with the posting times of Dread Pirate Roberts. Agents also intercepted fake IDs being posted to the address at which Ulbricht was staying.
Early Life
Ulbricht attended the University of Texas at Dallas, where relatives say he was on full scholarship and studied physics. From there, he went on to be a graduate research assistant at Penn State University, earning his Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering with a thesis entitled “Growth of EuO Thin Films By Molecular Beam Epitaxy.”