Trey Stephens

Person

Co-founder of Anduril and former Palantir employee who also worked at Founders Fund, focusing on defense technology.


First Mentioned

4/26/2026, 2:29:37 AM

Last Updated

4/26/2026, 2:35:52 AM

Research Retrieved

4/26/2026, 2:35:52 AM

Summary

Trae (Trey) Stephens is a prominent American venture capitalist and defense technology entrepreneur, serving as the co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril Industries and a partner at Founders Fund. Born in November 1983, his career trajectory was significantly influenced by the events of 9/11, leading him to study Arabic and Security Studies at Georgetown University. Stephens was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he led growth in the intelligence and defense sectors before co-founding Anduril in 2017 alongside Palmer Luckey. He is a vocal critic of the Department of Defense's traditional 'cost-plus' accounting and monopsony structure, advocating instead for 're-industrialization' and the mass production of software-defined hardware, such as drones, through initiatives like Arsenal One. His work focuses on bridging the gap between commercial AI advancements and national security to maintain deterrence against global adversaries like China.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Born

    1983-11-01

  • Religion

    Christian

  • Education

    School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

  • Full Name

    Trae Stephens

  • Net Worth

    Billionaire (as of June 2025)

  • Primary Role

    Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries

  • Secondary Role

    Partner at Founders Fund

  • Discrepancy Note

    The provided summary conflates Trae Stephens (b. 1983, defense tech) with Trey Stephen Bender (b. 1968, sportscaster). This extraction focuses on the defense tech executive mentioned in the related documents.

Timeline
  • Trae Stephens is born in Ohio, United States. (Source: Web search results)

    1983-11-01

  • As a high school senior, Stephens is inspired by the 9/11 attacks to pursue a career in national security. (Source: Web search results)

    2001-09-11

  • Graduates from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. (Source: Web search results)

    2005-05-20

  • Joins Palantir Technologies as an early employee focusing on intelligence and defense growth. (Source: Web search results)

    2008-01-01

  • Joins Peter Thiel's venture capital firm, Founders Fund, as a partner. (Source: Web search results)

    2014-01-01

  • Co-founds Anduril Industries with Palmer Luckey and others from Founders Fund. (Source: Web search results)

    2017-01-01

  • Becomes a billionaire following Anduril's Series G funding round, which valued the company at over $30 billion. (Source: Web search results)

    2025-06-01

Trey Bender

Trey Stephen Bender (born April 13, 1968) is a sportscaster for ESPNU, ESPN Plus, American Sports Network, and a part-time host for Yahoo! Sports Radio.

Web Search Results
  • Trae Stephens - Wikipedia

    Trae Stephens (born November 1983) is an American venture capitalist and technology entrepreneur. He is a co-founder and the executive chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company, and since 2014 a partner at Peter Thiel's venture capital firm Founders Fund. Stephens was an employee at Thiel's Palantir Technologies starting in 2008 and has been noted for his work at the intersection of technology and national security. He is a devout Christian and has preached to tech entrepreneurs. His wife started a Christian nonprofit called ACTS17 to minister to elites; it funded Peter Thiel's 2025 lectures on the antichrist and events by Garry Tan, featuring Pat Gelsinger. In June 2025, after Anduril's Series G, Stephens became a billionaire. [...] Actions Read Edit View history General What links here Related changes Upload file Permanent link Page information Cite this page Get shortened URL Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American venture capitalist and entrepreneur (born 1983) | Trae Stephens | | Stephens in 2024 | | Born | November 1983 (1983-11) (age 42) | | Education | Georgetown University | | Occupation | Chairman of Anduril Industries | | Known for | Co-founder of Anduril Industries, Sol, Varda Space Industries and Valinor Enterprises | | Spouse | Michelle Stephens | | Children | 2 | [...] Retrieved from "" Categories: 1983 births Living people American business executives in technology American technology company founders Businesspeople from Ohio Georgetown University alumni Palantir people Hidden categories: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use American English from April 2026 All Wikipedia articles written in American English Use mdy dates from April 2026 Articles with hCards

  • Trae Stephens

    from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in computer science from Harding University. [...] Trae was a senior in high school on 9/11 and was inspired to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service focusing on Arabic and Security Studies, later serving as a computational linguist building enterprise solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data enrichment within the United States Intelligence Community. [...] Trae was a senior in high school on 9/11 and was inspired to attend Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service focusing on Arabic and Security Studies, later serving as a computational linguist building enterprise solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data enrichment within the United States Intelligence Community.

  • Trae Stephens

    An early employee at Palantir, cofounder and board chairman Peter Thiel called Stephens one day to recruit him to Thiel's VC firm Founders Fund. Stephens cofounded the defense tech company Anduril in 2017 alongside Oculus founder Palmer Luckey. Stephens remains executive chairman of the company. Stephens led Founders Fund's investment in the supply chain logistics platform Flexport and his company, Anduril, which private investors valued at $30.5 billion in its latest funding round in June 2025. Stephens is also a cofounder of Sol, a startup making eyeglasses with Kindle-style lenses for "immersive reading." He began his career in the office of then-Congressman Rob Portman and in the Political Affairs Office at the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C. ## Forbes Lists #3332 [...] U2 scores another U.K. No. 1 as the Easter Lily EP debuts atop the Official Albums Downloads chart in the U.K., following the earlier success of the Songs of Ash EP. ByHugh McIntyreSenior Contributor 5 minutes ago ### Dodgers’ Former MLB Wins Leader Can Return ‘Any Minute,’ Per Scott Boras The Los Angeles Dodgers cut ties with a World Series championship after his second MLB suspension and now his agent has sent an update. ByPeter ChawagaContributor Jun 10, 2025 ### Mega Funding Round Makes Anduril Cofounder A Billionaire The recent funding round led by Founders Fund valued the hot military startup at $30 billion – and made its chairman Trae Stephens the latest defense tech billionaire. ByDavid JeansFormer Staff Feb 7, 2025 [...] ## Forbes Lists #3332 ### Billionaires (2026) #19 ### The Midas List: Top Tech Investors (2025) Personal Stats Age : 42 Source of Wealth : Defense technology, Self Made Residence : San Francisco, California Citizenship : United States Related People & Companies Brian Singerman Brian Singerman Related by employment: Founders Fund View Profile Palmer Luckey Palmer Luckey Related by financial asset: Anduril View Profile Peter Thiel Peter Thiel Related by employment: Founders Fund View Profile ### More on Forbes 5 minutes ago ### U2 Charts Another No. 1 With Its Second Surprise Release Of The Year

  • Trae Stephens - Founders Fund

    solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data enrichment within the United States Intelligence community. He began his career working in the office of then Congressman Rob Portman and in the Political Affairs Office at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. immediately following the installation of Hamid Karzai’s transitional government. Trae graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. [...] Chief Financial Officer ## Neil Pai General Counsel ## Michael Solana Chief Marketing Officer ## Erin Gleason Chief Communications Officer ## Mike Petriano Creative Director ## Natasha Whitledge Head of Brand Operations ## Ellie Pearson Head of Recruiting & Operations ## Elly Untermeyer Chief of Staff ## Denny Lai Senior Controller ## Josh Montoro Controller, Director of Tax ## Spencer Devereaux Director of Finance ## Alyx Sylvia Assistant Controller ## Danielle Biesanz Head of Legal Operations ## Sam Seo Head of Information & Technology # Trae Stephens [...] Trae is a Partner at Founders Fund. He is also Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous systems, and Co-founder of Sol, a next generation wearable e-reader. Previously, Trae was an early employee at Palantir Technologies, where he led teams focused on growth in the intelligence/defense space as well as international expansion, helping large organizations solve their hardest data analysis problems. He was also an integral part of the product team, leading the design and strategy for new product offerings. While at Palantir, Trae also served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University. Prior to Palantir, Trae worked as a computational linguist building enterprise solutions to Arabic/Persian name matching and data

  • Trae Stephens - Founders Fund

    - Lauren Bedula None View Post - Hondo Geurts None View Post - Trae Stephens None View Post - Michelle Stephens, PhD, CPNP, RN None View Post - Trae Stephens None View Post - Pursuit Properties None View Post - Christian Brose None View Post - JobsOhio None View Post - Anduril Industries None View Post - Hondo Geurts None View Post - Hondo Geurts None View Post ## People Also Viewed - Peter Nieh (Lightspeed Venture Partners) - - Josh Hoffman-Senn (Mozilla) - - Peter Faroni (Middlebury College) - - Ben Walker (Ridgeline Partners) - - Richard Dulude (Underscore VC) - - Ellie Wheeler (Venture Forward) - - Sarah Catanzaro (Amplify Partners) - - Ryan Hudson (ZeroClick) - - Kalsoom Lakhani (Kauffman Fellows) - [...] # Trae Stephens Founders Fund San Francisco, California, United States, US 500 connections, 7354 followers ## About ## Experience ### Founders Fund Founders Fund N/A - Present N/A ### N/A - Present N/A ### N/A - Present N/A ### N/A - Present N/A ### N/A - Present N/A ## Education ### Georgetown University N/A 2002 - 2005 None ### N/A N/A 1998 - 2002 None ## Publications N/A ## Honors & Awards N/A ## Certifications N/A ## Volunteering N/A ## Languages N/A ## Organizations N/A ## Activity - Trae Stephens None View Post - Trae Stephens None View Post - Anduril Industries None View Post - Harry Stebbings None View Post - Lauren Bedula None View Post

Location Data

Trey Drive, Duncan, Stephens County, Oklahoma, 73533, United States

residential

Coordinates: 34.4819283, -97.9719040

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