Matthew Prince

Matthew Prince was born on November 13, 1974, at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and raised in Park City. His father, John Browning Prince,{{Cite magazine |last=Goldberg |first=Eddy |date=2008 |title=A Man of Many Talents |magazine=Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine |issue=2}} is a former journalist, restaurateur, and owned a stock brokerage firm, while his mother owned several gift stores; in high school, Prince worked for his mother. The Prince family, who have resided in Park City for multiple generations, assisted in the construction of various buildings in Park City, such as the Parleys Summit Ski Resort, the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley, and the Yarrow Hotel.{{Cite web |url=https://www.parkrecord.com/news/tatiana-and-matthew-prince-set-to-acquire-the-143-year-old-park-record-newspaper/ |title=Tatiana and Matthew Prince set to acquire the 143-year-old Park Record newspaper |date=March 28, 2023 |work=Park Record |access-date=May 21, 2023}} Prince's great-great-great grandfather was Jonathan Browning, whose son, John Browning, designed Browning Auto-5—the first semi-automatic shotgun, the M2 Browning, and the M1911 pistol.{{Cite web |url=https://www.parkrecord.com/opinion/tatiana-and-matthew-prince-the-papers-not-going-anywhere-now/ |title=Tatiana and Matthew Prince: 'The paper's not going anywhere now' |date=March 31, 2023 |work=Park Record |access-date=May 21, 2023}} When he was seven, Prince received an Apple II Plus for Christmas. Prince's mother would sneak him into computer science classes at the University of Utah.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/business/corner-office-matthew-prince-cloudflare.html |title=Matthew Prince of Cloudflare on the Dangers of Fast Growth |date=August 11, 2017 |last=Bryant |first=Adam |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 20, 2023}} He attended Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School in 1988.{{Sfn|Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School|1988|p=33}} In Park City, he worked as an assistant ski instructor.{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/matthew-prince/ |title=Matthew Prince |work=Forbes |access-date=May 20, 2023}}

In 1996, Prince graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English literature and minoring in computer science.{{Cite web |url=https://www3.trincoll.edu/comms/reporter/20101/prince.htm |title=Matthew Prince '96 |date=2009 |last=Groff |first=Emily |work=The Trinity Reporter |access-date=May 20, 2023}} There, he was the editor-in-chief of The Trinity Tripod.{{Sfn|The Trinity Tripod|1995|p=2}} As a freshman, he co-created the online-only magazine The Trincoll Journal with Peter Adams and Paul Tesco.{{Cite web |url=https://blog.cloudflare.com/the-folly-of-charging-by-bandwidth/ |title=The Folly of Charging by Bandwidth |date=July 14, 2011 |last=Prince |first=Matthew |work=The Cloudflare Blog |publisher=Cloudflare |access-date=May 20, 2023}} He then was graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 2000 with a Juris Doctor and from Harvard Business School in 2009 with a Master of Business Administration as a George F. Baker Scholar.{{Cite web |url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/matthew-prince-00-discusses-cloudflare-cloud-computing-journal |title=Matthew Prince '00 Discusses CloudFlare with Cloud Computing Journal |publisher=University of Chicago Law School |access-date=May 20, 2023}}{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx?num=7060 |title=The Birth of a Silicon Valley Blockbuster |publisher=Harvard Business School |host=Dan Morrell |date=July 12, 2019 |access-date=May 20, 2023}}{{Cite web |url=https://mytrinnet.trincoll.edu/s/1490/rd18/interior.aspx?sid=1490&gid=1&pgid=3126&cid=5332&ecid=5332 |title=The Intersection of Technology and Privacy: A Conversation with Matthew Prince '96 and Joanne Berger-Sweeney |date=May 27, 2020 |publisher=Trinity College |access-date=May 20, 2023}}

While pursuing a degree from the University of Chicago, Prince worked at Latham & Watkins, and upon graduating, he worked for the online insurance company GroupWorks.{{Cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/07/30/cloudflare-protection/ |title=The Company Keeping Your Favorite (And Least Favorite) Websites Online |date=July 30, 2014 |last=Hill |first=Kashmir |work=Forbes |access-date=May 20, 2023}} In 2003, Prince began teaching cyberlaw at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law. He co-wrote a paper on the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 following its passage in the UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law.{{Sfn|Prince|Shea|2003|p=1}} The creation of the National Do Not Call Registry through the CAN-SPAM Act inspired Prince to create Unspam, a spam-prevention software for email. Prince co-founded Unspam Technologies, which supported the development of Project Honey Pot, an open source data collection software created by Prince and Lee Holloway designed to gather information on IP addresses used by email-address harvesting services.

{{Main|Cloudflare}}

In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contacted Unspam Technologies, asking, "Do you have any idea how valuable the data you have is?" The DHS' email served as the impetus for Cloudflare, a technology company Prince co-founded with Holloway and fellow Harvard Business School graduate Michelle Zatlyn the following year. Cloudflare's team won the Dubilier Prize from Harvard Business School, receiving a total of {{USD|50000}} in cash.{{Cite web |url=https://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/Pages/2009bizplancontest.aspx |title=Harvard Business School Holds 13th Annual Business Plan Contest |date=April 28, 2009 |publisher=Harvard Business School |access-date=May 20, 2023}}

Prince's personal information was leaked in 2012 and used by the hacker group UGNazi to facilitate a DNS hijacking attack against 4chan. UGNazi were able to forward Prince's AT&T phone number to a Google Voice number using a Social Security number the group purchased for several dollars. The transfer allowed the group to receive a two-factor authentication code for Prince's personal Gmail account, which he used as a backup for his corporate account, and were able to redirect 4chan to UGNazi's Twitter account. According to group member Eric Taylor, Prince was warned of the attack a day before it occurred through an AT&T relay; Prince confirmed that he received several calls from an AT&T relay.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/09/cosmo-the-god-who-fell-to-earth/ |title=Cosmo, the Hacker 'God' Who Fell to Earth |date=September 11, 2012 |last=Honan |first=Mat |magazine=Wired |access-date=May 20, 2023}} Within a day, Cloudflare had identified three members of the group, who were also customers of Cloudflare.{{Cite web |url=https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/02/27/worry-about-security/ |title=Lessons to learn from the UGNazi hacking attacks against Mat Honan and Cloudflare |date=February 27, 2013 |last=Cluley |first=Graham |work=Naked Security |publisher=Sophos |access-date=May 20, 2023}} In 2014, Prince's house was searched by a SWAT team after a spoofed number called 9-1-1 claiming that someone had a gun in his house.{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/cloudflare-s-matthew-prince-on-tracking-down-the-bad-guys-1.1992413 |title=CloudFlare's Matthew Prince on tracking down the bad guys |date=November 10, 2014 |last=Newenham |first=Pamela |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=May 20, 2023}}

Cloudflare received significant attention for providing service to the Chechen news site Kavkaz Center. The Kernel journalist James Cook contacted Cloudflare about the site, sharing the email with editor-in-chief Milo Yiannopoulos, to which Prince responded by writing a blog post rebuking the email's content and writing, "A website is speech. It is not a bomb."{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/12/cloudflare-kavkaz-center-censorship-row |title=CloudFlare on censorship: 'A website is speech. It is not a bomb' |date=August 12, 2013 |last=Dredge |first=Stuart |work=The Guardian |access-date=May 20, 2023}} He spoke out against National Security Agency gag orders in September 2013.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/09/12/cloudflare-ceo-says-insane-nsa-gag-order-is-costing-u-s-tech-firms-customers/ |title=CloudFlare CEO: 'Insane' NSA gag order is costing U.S. tech firms customers |date=September 12, 2013 |last=Tsukayama |first=Hayley |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 20, 2023}} Despite maintaining a free speech stance, Prince personally suspended service for the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. An internal email by Prince and obtained by Gizmodo said that he felt compelled to act after users of The Daily Stormer began boasting that Cloudflare was "one of them". In a blog post, he later stated that suspending service opens sites open to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.{{Cite web |url=https://gizmodo.com/cloudflare-ceo-on-terminating-service-to-neo-nazi-site-1797915295 |title=Cloudflare CEO on Terminating Service to Neo-Nazi Site: 'The Daily Stormer Are Assholes' |date=August 16, 2017 |last=Conger |first=Kate |work=Gizmodo |access-date=May 20, 2023}} Prince defended suspending Kiwi Farms' service in September 2022 after the site engaged in a harassment campaign against Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti in August of that year.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/03/cloudflare-drops-kiwifarms/ |title=Under pressure, security firm Cloudflare drops Kiwi Farms website |date=May 20, 2023 |last1=Menn |first1=Joseph |last2=Lorenz |first2=Taylor |author-link2=Taylor Lorenz |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=May 20, 2023}}

{{See also|Park Record}}

In March 2023, Prince and his wife Tatiana acquired the newspaper The Park Record from Ogden Newspapers{{Cite web |url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/03/28/park-city-billionaire-purchases/ |title=Park City billionaire purchases Park Record newspaper |date=March 28, 2023 |last=Malatesta |first=Parker |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=May 20, 2023}} and now provides digital articles for free.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-23 |title=In time for Christmas, Park Record editions are now free |url=https://www.parkrecord.com/news/in-time-for-christmas-park-record-editions-are-now-free/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.parkrecord.com |language=en-US}} The Princes intend on converting the newspaper into a non-profit or public benefit corporation and adding Spanish-language coverage.

Prince and his wife Tatiana (née Lingos-Webb){{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/story/free-speech-issue-cloudflare/ |title=Why Cloudflare Let an Extremist Stronghold Burn |date=January 16, 2018 |last=Johnson |first=Steven |magazine=Wired |access-date=May 20, 2023}} reside in Park City, Utah. They have a daughter.{{Cite news |last=Carlton |first=Jim |date=April 28, 2024 |title=The Billionaire Dogfight Rocking Park City, Utah |url=https://www.wsj.com/us-news/park-city-utah-cloudflare-prince-dogs-404106a6 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=October 31, 2024}} According to Forbes, Prince has a net worth of {{USD|2.3}} billion {{as of|2023|03|lc=y|post=,}} making him the second wealthiest person in Utah behind Gail Miller.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/2023/03/02/legislature-may-let-utahs-richest/ |title=The House rejects a bid by Utah's richest man to build a castle above Park City — despite city code. |date=March 2, 2023 |last=Gehrke |first=Robert |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |access-date=May 20, 2023}} He is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

In October 2022, Prince's representatives had asked Park City planners to tear down a {{Convert|7000|sqft|m2}} main house and guest house Prince owned on King Road and build a mansion, guest house, pool, and parking garage in their place. The blueprints would approach Treasure Hill, a {{USD|64}} million open space purchased by taxpayers in 2019. The matter came before the planning commission. On the same day language was added to a Senate bill that would allow Prince to tear down the houses without involvement from the committee, Prince hired lobbyist Lincoln Shurtz. The legislation failed in the House of Representatives.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite journal |last1=Prince |first1=Matthew |last2=Shea |first2=Patrick |date=2003 |title=After CAN-SPAM, How States Can Stay Relevant in the Fight Against Unwanted Messages:How a Children's Protection Registry Can be Effective and is Not Preempted, Under the New Federal Anti-Spam Law |url=https://repository.law.uic.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=jitpl |journal=UIC John Marshall Journal of Information Technology & Privacy Law |volume=29 |issue=22 |access-date=May 20, 2023}}
• {{Cite book |date=1988 |title=Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School Yearbook |location=Salt Lake City |publisher=Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School |ref={{Harvid|Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School|1988}}}}
• {{Cite book |date=January 24, 1995 |title=The Trinity Tripod |location=Hartford |publisher=The Trinity Tripod |ref={{Harvid|The Trinity Tripod|1995}}}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, Matthew}}

Category:Living people

Category:1974 births

Category:American technology chief executives

Category:American company founders

Category:American billionaires

Category:Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni

Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni

Category:Harvard Business School alumni

Category:University of Illinois Chicago faculty

Category:Cloudflare people