Tim Draper on Ross Ulbricht: ‘Get him out of jail!’

Tim Draper, one of the world’s most successful investors, has publicly called for Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht to be freed from prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) closed the Silk Road, an online marketplace on the dark web, back in 2013.

The website was notorious as a marketplace where illegal drugs and illicit goods were sold frequently by the site’s vendors and customers.

Ulbricht was convicted of eight charges related to the marketplace by a US federal court in Manhattan and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Following the closure of the Silk Road, Draper famously purchased nearly 30,000 Bitcoin that had been seized from the website’s servers at a government auction.

Back in September, the American venture capital investor – who has an estimated net worth of $1 billion – tweeted his feelings regarding Ulbricht.

He wrote: “Free this entrepreneur, Ross Ulbricht. He has been in prison for about five years. That is enough.”

More recently, Draper appeared on the Crypto Finder video podcast with Fred Schebesta, who asked the billionaire to elaborate on his previous sentiments.

“Get him out. We need entrepreneurs like that guy,” he said.

“Get him out of jail! Why do we put these really extraordinary people in jail? We need their minds, their energy, their life force.

“Get him free. Who knows what else he could’ve come up with?”

Interested in reading more Silk Road-related stories? Discover more about a Silk Road profiteer being arrested on suspicion of laundering drug money.