William F. von Meister (February 21, 1942 – May 18, 1995) was an American entrepreneur who founded and participated in a number of startup ventures in the
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, area. These included
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
, an early
online service
An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider (music, movies), a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, ...
and
CompuServe
CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the oth ...
competitor, and
Control Video Corporation
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc.
...
, a predecessor company to
AOL
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc.
...
.
Early years
William Ferdinand von Meister was born of noble German descent
on February 21, 1942 in
New York City, to F. W. von Meister and Eleanora Colloredo-Mannsfeld. His father, F. W. von Meister, was the godson of
Kaiser Wilhelm II, and his mother was a
countess
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
.
William von Meister attended
high school at
Middlesex Academy in Massachusetts, and a
finishing school in
Switzerland. He then attended
Georgetown University. Though he never completed his undergraduate education, he persuaded nearby
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was chart ...
to enroll him in its master's program for business.
Career
After leaving Georgetown in 1973, von Meister started a wholesale liquor company, but found it "boring" and decided to move into consulting.
After creating a database for Litton Bionetics, he was hired by
Western Union to create a computerized billing system.
In 1978, Meister founded
The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
, the first popular online services company. The Source was eventually sold to
Reader's Digest and later acquired by rivals
CompuServe
CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the oth ...
.
In 1983,
Control Video Corporation
AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo! Inc.
...
was founded by Meister. The company originally ran the
GameLine
GameLine was a dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600, developed and operated by Control Video Corporation (CVC). Subscribers could install the proprietary modem and storage cartridge in their home game console, accessing the GameLi ...
dial-up service for the
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...
, which Meister claimed to be able to handle up to 100,000 users.
Personal life and death
Meister has at least one brother, Peter. Bill von Meister died of cancer in
Great Falls, Virginia
Great Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 15,427, an increase of 80.5% from the 2000 census.
History
Colonial farm settlements began to form in the area a ...
, at the age of 53,
leaving behind his son, Frederick William von Meister. Frederick passed away in 2004, leaving behind a son, Maximilian.
Titles
As a descendent of
Prussian nobility, William had the honour of carrying von in his last name.
[
]
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
Further reading
* Michael A. Banks (2008), ''On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders''. Apress. .
*
External links
The Story of a Pathological Entrepreneur
of William von Meister at the ''Luyken Family Association''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Von Meister, William
1942 births
1995 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Virginia
People from Great Falls, Virginia
American Internet company founders
20th-century American businesspeople
Middlesex School alumni
Businesspeople from Virginia
Businesspeople from New York City
American people of German descent