Nationality American | Name William LeGate | |
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Full Name William Christopher LeGate Occupation Entrepreneur, Thiel Fellow Residence San Francisco, California, United States |
Coding your own future william legate at tedxteen 2014
William Christopher LeGate (born September 3, 1994) is an American entrepreneur, Thiel Fellow, and computer programmer. A self-taught programmer from the age of 12, LeGate was brought to the public's attention 3 years later when The New York Times recommended one of the iOS applications he had programmed during middle school.
Contents
- Coding your own future william legate at tedxteen 2014
- Meet the leaders of today william legate rachel g fox riley ennis sarah carey
- Early life
- Thiel Fellowship
- Ponder
- Awards and recognition
- References

Upon graduating high school, billionaire PayPal co-founder and investor Peter Thiel awarded LeGate—then aged 18—with a Thiel Fellowship, a $100,000 (USD) grant given annually to around 20 people under 20 years of age on the condition that they drop out of school in order to pursue an entrepreneurial path. The apps that he made have been downloaded over 7 million times.
Meet the leaders of today william legate rachel g fox riley ennis sarah carey
Early life
LeGate was born on September 3, 1994, in Atlanta, Georgia, son of real estate entrepreneur father and stay-at-home mother. He was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta and is a graduate of The Walker School in Marietta, Georgia.
Thiel Fellowship
Having taught himself computer programming from online Stanford courses starting at the age of 13, LeGate stated in a 2011 interview that he has always had a passion for entrepreneurship. Throughout high school, he created over a dozen iPhone applications which were being used by 1 in 12 American teenagers upon his graduation.
His early success caught the attention of billionaire PayPal co-founder and investor Peter Thiel who awarded LeGate—then aged 18—with a Thiel Fellowship, a $100,000 (USD) grant given annually to around 20 people under 20 years of age on the condition that they drop out of school in order to pursue an entrepreneurial path.
Ponder
Toward the end of his Thiel Fellowship, LeGate began creating the Ponder mobile application of which he was listed as co-founder and CEO. The New York Post dubbed Ponder as the 'anti-Kardashian' photo sharing app with Teen Vogue adding that Ponder is "drama-free. No trolls, bullying, or negativity. Just cool photos & videos."
Tinder co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen both invested in the app, and Justin's brother Tyler Mateen was a co-founder of Ponder.