ROSS Ulbricht is most famous for founding Silk Road Market, an online black market where users could buy and sell illicit goods anonymously.
But what is the story behind Ulbricht and what is his net worth?
Who is Ross Ulbricht?
Ross Ulbricht was born in 1984 and grew up near Austin, Texas, where he studied physics at the University of Texas before going on to do a Master’s degree in materials science at the Pennsylvania State University.
After graduating in 2009 Ulbricht returned to Austin and became an entrepreneur.
He started day trading before trying his hand at developing video games and selling books online but his early attempts were unsuccessful.
It was during this time Ulbricht first developed the idea of creating an online marketplace using Tor encryption (free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication) and Bitcoin, which was still in its infant stages at the time.
Ulbricht thought that using Bitcoin would give users anonymity and security, allowing them to avoid government scrutiny.
Ulbricht founded Silk Road in 2011, when he was 26, and called himself the Dread Pirate Roberts online.
He wanted Silk Road to be used as a “means to abolish the use of coercion and aggression amongst mankind.”
He also said he was “creating an economic simulation to give people a first-hand experience of what it would be like to live in a world without the systemic use of force.”
After a number of media outlets published stories on the market in mid-2011, a huge amount of interest developed around the site.
But as the site became more widely known, authorities also tried to identify Silk Road users and shut down the site.
According to the prosecutors, by the time it was shut down the site had generated almost $213.9 million in sales and $13.2 million in commissions for its owner.
In early 2013 it was reported an Australian drug dealer was the first person to be convicted of crimes linked to the Silk Road.
From that, the FBI uncovered that Ulbricht was the founder and owner of Silk Road and he was arrested on October 2, 2013, in a San Francisco library, and later indicted on seven charges.
Ulbricht’s trial started in January 2015 in Manhattan, and he was convicted on all seven counts.
On May 29, 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to two life imprisonment terms plus 40 years to be served concurrently without the possibility of parole.
The judge also ordered Ulbricht to pay nearly $184 million in restitution.
Ulbricht tried to appeal the decision but in May 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied his attempt.
Ulbricht also appealed to the Supreme Court, with attorneys arguing his case involves unresolved constitutional questions regarding the Fourth Amendment and the digital age.
But in June 2018, the court refused to hear Ulbricht’s case.
On October 10, 2019, Ulbricht filed a motion with the New York Southern District Court to vacate or set aside his sentence.
This motion was also denied.
In late 2020, President Donald Trump was reportedly considering reducing Ulbricht’s sentence but didn’t.
Since Ulbricht was sentenced, nearly 500,000 people have signed an online petition created by Ulbricht’s mother Lyn Ulbricht to reduce his double life sentence.
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In 2021, Ulbricht told Bitcoin Magazine: “I’ve spent the last eight years watching Bitcoin grow up from in here.
“I’ve seen incredible innovation.
“I’ve seen inspiring courage. We didn’t know how things would turn out for Bitcoin back in the beginning, but over the years, I’ve been continually impressed with what you’ve accomplished.
“We are transforming the global economy.
“We have brought a taste of freedom and equality to far corners of the world.
“I know we can transform criminal justice, too.”
He went on to add: “I thought with Bitcoin, I could try and do something that actually makes a difference.
“Back then, I was impatient.”
“I rushed ahead with my first idea, which was Silk Road.
“That’s a 26-year-old who thinks he has to save the world before someone beats him to it. I had no idea Silk Road would work, but now we all know it caught on.
“It was used to sell drugs, and now I’m in prison.”
“The irony is that I made Silk Road in the first place because I thought I was furthering the things I cared about: Freedom, privacy, equality.”
“But by making Silk Road, I wound up in a place where those things don’t exist.”
What is Ross Ulbricht’s net worth?
While running Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht amassed over 144,000 Bitcoins as payment for processing $9 billion in transactions.
On the day of his arrest in October 2013, the price for one Bitcoin was $121 meaning Ulbricht was worth $17.4 million.
On the day of his conviction in February 2015, the price of Bitcoin was $220 making Jeff worth $31.7 million.
In mid-2014 the United States Marshals service conducted nine auctions for 30,000 of Ulbricht’s Bitcoin.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper bought all of them for $19 million.
Today, those Bitcoins are worth over $500,000,000.
In November 2020, another 69,000 of Ulbricht’s Bitcoins were seized by the US Department of Justice.
Those 69,000 Bitcoins had been stolen from Ulbricht by a hacker in 2012 and 2013.
The government has not sold these yet but they’re currently valued at more than $1 billion.
The US Justice Department is believed to have made a deal with Ulbricht over the Bitcoins.
In exchange for Ulbricht’s agreement to waive any ownership of the Bitcoins, a portion will be used to pay off his restitution of $184 million in its entirety.
The remaining 45,000 Bitcoin most likely haven’t been found yet but these are valued at nearly $1 billion.
This means if Ulbricht were to be released he’d have a net worth of nearly $1 billion.