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William von Meister

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William F. von Meister (February 21, 1942 – May 18, 1995) was an American entrepreneur who founded and participated in a number of startup ventures in the Washington, D.C., area. These included The Source, an early online service and CompuServe competitor, and Control Video Corporation, a predecessor to AOL.[1]

William von Meister
Von Meister in 1989
Born(1942-02-21)February 21, 1942
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 18, 1995(1995-05-18) (aged 53)
Great Falls, Virginia, U.S.
IssueFrederick von Meister
FatherF.W. von Meister
MotherEleanora Colloredo-Mannsfeld

Early years

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William Ferdinand von Meister was born of noble German descent[2] on February 21, 1942 in New York City, to F. W. von Meister and Eleanora Colloredo-Mannsfeld.[3] His father, F. W. von Meister, was the godson of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and his mother was a countess.[4]

Von Meister attended high school at Middlesex Academy in Massachusetts, and a finishing school in Switzerland. He then attended Georgetown University. Though he never completed his undergraduate education, he persuaded nearby American University to enroll him in its master's program for business.[4][5]

Career

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After leaving Georgetown in 1973, von Meister started a wholesale liquor company, but found it "boring" and decided to move into consulting.[6] After creating a database for Litton Bionetics, he was hired by Western Union to create a computerized billing system.[6]

In 1978, von Meister founded The Source,[7] the first popular online services company. The Source was eventually sold to Reader's Digest and later acquired by rivals CompuServe.[8][7]

In 1982, von Meister was working on a project called the Home Music Store, which was to be beamed by way of the Westar IV communications satellite to cable television companies all over the United States, who would then provide it to their subscribers. For a monthly service charge of less than $10 (including rental of the necessary decoder box) plus a per-album fee (normally a little more than half the list price of the record), subscribers would be able to receive, decode, and record a digitally encoded and transmitted copy of the album.[9] However, there is no evidence that the project ever came to fruition.

In 1983, Control Video Corporation, the predecessor of America Online, was founded by von Meister. The company originally ran the GameLine dial-up service for the Atari 2600,[7] which Meister claimed to be able to handle up to 100,000 users.[10]

Personal life and death

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Meister has at least one brother, Peter.[4] Von Meister died of cancer in Great Falls, Virginia, at the age of 53,[8] leaving behind his son, Frederick William von Meister.

Titles

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As a descendent of Prussian nobility, William had the honour of carrying von in his last name.[2]

References

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  1. ^ admin (2023-02-28). "A Biography of William Von Meister: The Man Behind The Source and AOL". Online Safety Trainer. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
  2. ^ a b dGenealogisches Handbuch des Adels (in German).
  3. ^ Klein 2004, p. 9.
  4. ^ a b c Swisher 1998.
  5. ^ "The source of it all: William F. von Meister". Goliath. 1 March 2007. Archived from the original on 20 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ^ a b "Hooked on Startups, He Invented Infocast". Radio World. 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  7. ^ a b c Needle 1983, p. 8.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Esther (25 May 1995). "Obituary: Bill von Meister". Washington Technology.
  9. ^ Riggs, Michael (October 5, 1982). "Pioneers: William F. von Meister — the Home Music Store". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  10. ^ Needle 1983, p. 9.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Genealogy of William von Meister at the Luyken Family Association
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