Trae Stephens
Born 1983 · Age 42
American venture capitalist and technology entrepreneur; co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril Industries; partner at Founders Fund; early Palantir employee focused on technology and national security.
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Life & Career Timeline
Started studies at Georgetown University (approx.)
Enrolled at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service (approximate start year; graduated 2005). Focus later on Arabic and Security Studies.
Senior in high school during 9/11 attacks
Stephens was a high-school senior at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; the event inspired his pursuit of a national-security-oriented career.
Internship: Office of Congressman Rob Portman (approx.)
Interned in Congressman Rob Portman's office during college years (internship cited as occurring during his time at Georgetown).
Internship: Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C. (approx.)
Interned at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, D.C., shortly after the establishment of Hamid Karzai’s post-Taliban transitional government (during college).
Entered US Intelligence Community as computational linguist
Began career building enterprise solutions for Arabic–Persian name matching and data enrichment, applying language and technical skills to intelligence analysis.
Graduated Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service
Earned a degree in Regional and Comparative Studies (Middle East); focused on Arabic and Security Studies.
Study abroad at the American University in Cairo (AUC)
Studied spoken Arabic, governmental systems in the Middle East and Islamic philosophy at AUC (program during his Georgetown years; highlighted in a Nov 8, 2016 AUC feature).
Joined Palantir Technologies as an early employee
Joined the Silicon Valley data-analytics firm as one of its early employees; Palantir had ~25 people when he started (per later AUC recollection).
Led Palantir teams focused on defense, intelligence, international growth
At Palantir, he led teams expanding the company’s business in defense & intelligence sectors and on international growth, and helped design analytical software offerings.
Served briefly as adjunct faculty at Georgetown University
During his Palantir period Stephens served briefly as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University (exact dates not specified).
Left Palantir Technologies (approx.)
By the time Stephens left Palantir in 2013 the company had scaled to almost 2,000 people (he spent several years scaling Palantir from its early stage).
Became partner at Founders Fund
Joined Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund as a partner focused on investments in government and defense technology startups.
Met Palmer Luckey at Founders Fund retreat
Met Palmer Luckey at a Founders Fund retreat in 2014; the meeting seeded the idea to apply startup methods to defense and later led to co-founding Anduril.
Served on Trump transition team; led DoD transition effort
In late 2016 Stephens served on President-elect Donald Trump's transition team and led the Department of Defense transition effort.
Anduril concept: 'virtual border wall' project initiated
Anduril’s early work included a 'virtual border wall'—networked sensor towers and drones to detect unauthorized crossings on the U.S.–Mexico border.
Co-founded Anduril Industries
Co-founded Anduril Industries with Palmer Luckey, Matt Grimm, Joe Chen, and Brian Schimpf to bring Silicon Valley techniques to defense technology.
Named executive chairman of Anduril Industries
Assumed the leadership role of executive chairman at Anduril (title cited in profiles and company materials).
Nextgov profiles Palmer Luckey/Anduril
Nextgov published a profile noting Oculus founder Palmer Luckey building a defense contractor with consumer technology (Anduril coverage, Jun 12, 2018).
Spoke at Reboot 2018 Conference (Commonwealth Club)
Participated as a speaker at the Reboot 2018 conference (Commonwealth Club event, Sep 21, 2018).
Anduril achieved program of record with US government (approx. two years after founding)
Anduril reached a program of record inside the federal government in just over two years from company standup — an unusually rapid procurement milestone (implies ~2019).
The Intercept coverage on defense-tech contract (March 9, 2019)
The Intercept published coverage (Mar 9, 2019) noting defense-tech startup ties to Trump-era supporters and secretive military AI contracts (references Anduril/Founders Fund ties).
Listed as contributor / profile on Federalist Society (fedsoc) site
Profile/contributor listing for Trae Stephens available on fedsoc.org (retrieved/dated Sept 2, 2019 in source references).
Co-founded Sol (wearable e-reader company)
Co-founded Sol in 2021, which developed a next-generation wearable e-reader device (product/company cited in Wikipedia).
Anduril product expansion: counter-drone and autonomous systems scaling
Under Stephens's leadership Anduril expanded its product line to include counter-UAS systems, autonomous aircraft, maritime & undersea systems (ongoing multi-year expansion).
Anduril valuation reported at approximately $8.4 billion (early 2024)
By early 2024 Anduril was reported to be valued at about $8.4 billion (public reporting cited in profiles).
Public profile notes: married with two sons (personal milestone)
Public biographies note that Stephens is married and has two sons (no public dates for marriage or births provided).
TechCrunch interview: revealed personal bunker; discussed Founders Fund/Anduril
In a TechCrunch interview (Mar 2, 2024) Stephens discussed Founders Fund, Anduril, his personal emergency bunker, survival kit, and stated his wife made him promise never to run for public office.
Preached sermon to tech entrepreneurs about faith and innovation (June 2024)
In June 2024 Stephens, a devout Christian, garnered attention for preaching to a gathering of tech entrepreneurs about Christianity and innovation.
Ongoing role: Partner at Founders Fund (active)
Continues to serve as a partner at Founders Fund, focusing on investments in hard tech, government and defense technology startups.
Anduril ongoing procurement wins & international contracts (multi-year milestone)
Under Stephens’s leadership Anduril secured significant Department of Defense contracts and contracts with allied nations; these contributed to company growth and valuation (multi-year, ongoing through 2024–2025).
Discussed recent Anduril product launches including Barracuda missile
In 2025 interviews Stephens discussed recent product launches (e.g., Barracuda missile) and manufacturing approaches leveraging commercial processes (Barracuda fuselage hot-pressed like bath fittings).
Public reputation: noted for work at intersection of tech and national security
By 2025 Stephens is publicly noted as a leading figure at the intersection of technology, venture capital, and national security (profiles in Wired, NYT, TechCrunch, Forbes).
Guest on World of DaaS podcast
Appeared on the World of DaaS podcast (Apr 22, 2025) discussing defense manufacturing, supply chains, and Anduril's approach to software-defined hardware systems.
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