Tom Preston-Werner
GitHub co-founder who created Gravatar, Jekyll and TOML
- Age
- 47 yrs
- Birthday in 202 days
- Works listed
- 3
- Software, File format
- Honours
- 0
- Awards & distinctions
- Profile views
- 2
- 0 followers
Tom Preston-Werner is an American programmer who co-founded GitHub and was its first CEO. He also created the Gravatar avatar service, the Jekyll static-site generator, the TOML configuration format and the Semantic Versioning specification.
Biography
Gravatar
Preston-Werner studied physics at Harvey Mudd College before leaving to program. He built Gravatar, sold to Automattic in 2007.
GitHub
He co-founded GitHub in 2008 and was CEO until 2014, when he resigned after an internal investigation into harassment claims found no legal wrongdoing but errors of judgement.
Open-source tools
He created Jekyll, which powers GitHub Pages, the TOML format (Tom’s Obvious, Minimal Language) and Semantic Versioning.
Later
He co-founded the JavaScript framework RedwoodJS and signed the Giving Pledge with his wife.
Timeline
-
1979
Born in Dubuque, Iowa, United States
-
2004
Creates Gravatar
-
2007
Automattic buys Gravatar
-
2008
Co-founds GitHub; Jekyll
-
2013
TOML
-
2014
Leaves GitHub
-
2020
RedwoodJS 1.0
Notable works
-
2008
Jekyll Software
-
2013
TOML File format
-
2009
Semantic Versioning Specification
Did you know?
-
1
TOML stands for “Tom’s Obvious, Minimal Language”.
-
2
He is a billionaire through GitHub’s sale.
-
3
He has funded ballot campaigns in California.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Tom Preston-Werner?
Tom Preston-Werner is an American programmer who co-founded GitHub and was its first CEO. He also created the Gravatar avatar service, the Jekyll static-site generator, the TOML configuration format and the Semantic Versioning specification.
How old is Tom Preston-Werner?
Tom Preston-Werner is 47 years old, born on 27 May 1979 in Dubuque, Iowa, United States.
Where is Tom Preston-Werner from?
Tom Preston-Werner was born in Dubuque, Iowa, United States.
What is Tom Preston-Werner known for?
Tom Preston-Werner is best known for Co-founding GitHub (2008); Gravatar; Jekyll; TOML; Semantic Versioning.
References
- Tom Preston-Werner — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Official website. tom.preston-werner.com. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Tom Preston-Werner (Q16602077) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Tom Preston-Werner”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Tom Preston-Werner.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/tom-preston-werner
Discussion 0
Sign in or create an account to join the discussion.
No comments yet — be the first.
More in Technology
Technology
Sachin Bansal
Co-founder of Flipkart and founder of Navi
Born 1981
Technology
Satya Nadella
Chairman and CEO of Microsoft
Born 1967
Technology
Nandan Nilekani
Infosys co-founder and architect of Aadhaar
Born 1955
Technology
Ritesh Agarwal
Founder of the hotel chain OYO
Technology
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder of the digital payments company Paytm
Born 1978
Technology
Nithin Kamath
Co-founder of the discount brokerage Zerodha
Born 1979