Matthew Prince’s Journey From Curious Kid to Cloudflare’s Visionary Leader
Let’s talk about Matthew Prince, the man whose name often comes up whenever Cloudflare is in the news. And yes, the big question people ask — is he a Harvard graduate? The answer is absolutely yes, but that’s only one part of a remarkable journey that shaped him into the CEO he is today.
Matthew Prince was born on November 13, 1974, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up in Park City. What’s interesting is that his fascination with computers didn’t begin in college or high school — it started even earlier. His mother actually used to sneak him into computer science classes at the University of Utah when he was still young. That early exposure clearly paid off, because he carried that curiosity with him throughout his academic life.
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He attended Rowland Hall–St. Mark’s School and later moved on to Trinity College, where he studied English literature while minoring in computer science. Even then, he wasn’t just attending classes; he was actively shaping things around him. He became the editor-in-chief of his college newspaper, The Trinity Tripod, and even co-created an online-only magazine called The Trincoll Journal — an impressive move in the mid-90s.
After graduating, Matthew shifted gears and pursued law at the University of Chicago, earning his J.D. in 2000. During this period, he also worked with the international law firm Latham & Watkins. Later, he would go on to teach cyberlaw at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where he wrote about the CAN-SPAM Act and its impact on digital communication.
But his entrepreneurial streak never faded. Before Cloudflare came into the picture, he co-founded Unspam Technologies, a company focused on fighting email spam. This work eventually caught the attention of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, because the data Unspam was tracking was becoming extremely important.
Then came Harvard. In 2009, Matthew completed his MBA at Harvard Business School, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar — an honor reserved for the top students in the class. During his time there, he teamed up with Lee Holloway and Michelle Zatlyn. That collaboration turned into something groundbreaking: Cloudflare.
The trio officially launched Cloudflare at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2010, and from that moment on, the company’s trajectory changed rapidly. By 2014, Cloudflare was offering enterprise-grade cryptography to everyone for free, a move that strengthened global internet security. Today, the company powers major portions of the web, handling everything from cybersecurity to content delivery. Matthew often mentions that nearly 80% of leading AI companies rely on Cloudflare’s infrastructure — a testament to how huge the platform has become.
On top of all that, Matthew Prince owns about 8% of Cloudflare, and as of now, his net worth is estimated around $6.3 billion. Not bad for someone who once spent six months working as a ski instructor.
So yes, he’s a Harvard graduate — but his story is much bigger than that. It’s a combination of curiosity, education, innovation, and bold decisions that helped build one of the internet’s most important companies.
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