Early Life
Thomas Preston-Werner was born on May 27, 1979, in Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated from Dubuque Senior High School. He later attended Harvey Mudd College for two years before dropping out.
Rise to Success
Preston-Werner is best known for co-founding GitHub in 2008 with Chris Wanstrath, P. J. Hyett, and Scott Chacon. He served as CEO until 2014. GitHub became a global platform for software development, and was acquired by Microsoft in 2018 for $7.5 billion. Before GitHub, he founded Gravatar and sold it to Automattic. He also co-founded the language-learning platform Chatterbug in 2016. Preston-Werner has also created the TOML configuration file format, the static site generator software Jekyll, and the Semantic Versioning Specification (SemVer).
Key Business Strategies
Preston-Werner has focused on creating and investing in developer-focused tools and platforms. He has demonstrated the ability to identify and capitalize on trends in software development, as well as a knack for community building. He co-founded Preston-Werner Ventures (PWV) to back early-stage tech companies.
Philanthropy
Tom and his wife, Theresa, are signatories of The Giving Pledge. They have committed to donating a majority of their wealth to charitable causes, focusing on technology access, education, and climate resilience. In 2020, he and his wife committed $250,000 to racial justice efforts.
