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Parker was born in Herndon, Virginia to Diane Parker, a TV advertising broker, and Bruce Parker, a U.S. government oceanographer. When Parker was 7, his father taught him how to program on an Atari 800. Parker's father, who put his family over his entrepreneurial dreams, told Parker "if you are going to take risks, take them early before you have a family."


As a teenager, Parker's hobbies were hacking and programming. One night, while hacking into the network of a Fortune 500 company, Parker was unable to logout after his frustrated father unplugged his computer. Because his IP address was exposed, F.B.I. agents tracked down the 16-year-old, showed up at his doorstep and seized his computer. Since Parker was a minor, he was only sentenced to community service.