Tom Preston-Werner

Tom Preston-Werner
Preston-Werner in 2024
Born (1979-05-27) May 27, 1979
EducationHarvey Mudd College (dropped out)
Occupation(s)Software developer, entrepreneur
Years active2008–present
TitleCo-founder & former CEO, GitHub
Term2012-2014
PredecessorChris Wanstrath
SuccessorChris Wanstrath
SpouseTheresa Preston-Werner
Children3
Websitetom.preston-werner.com

Thomas Preston-Werner (born May 27, 1979) is an American billionaire software developer and entrepreneur. He is an active contributor within the free and open-source software community, most prominently in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he lives.

He is best known as the founder and former CEO of GitHub, a Git repository web-based hosting service, which he co-founded in 2008 with Chris Wanstrath and P. J. Hyett. He resigned from GitHub in 2014 when an internal investigation concluded that he and his wife harassed an employee. Preston-Werner is also the creator of the avatar service Gravatar, the TOML configuration file format, the static site generator software Jekyll, and the Semantic Versioning Specification (SemVer). As of 2023, he and his wife have committed to The Giving Pledge—a promise to give away or donate a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.