| William von Meister | |
| Birth Date: | 21 February 1942 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Great Falls, Virginia, U.S. |
| Issue: | Frederick von Meister |
| Father: | F.W. von Meister |
| Mother: | Eleanora Colloredo-Mannsfeld |
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 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. His father, F. W. von Meister, was the godson of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and his mother was a countess.
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.[3]
After leaving Georgetown in 1973, von Meister started a wholesale liquor company, but found it "boring" and decided to move into consulting.[4] After creating a database for Litton Bionetics, he was hired by Western Union to create a computerized billing system.
In 1978, von Meister founded The Source, the first popular online services company. The Source was eventually sold to Reader's Digest and later acquired by rivals CompuServe.
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, which Meister claimed to be able to handle up to 100,000 users.
Meister has at least one brother, Peter. Von Meister died of cancer in Great Falls, Virginia, at the age of 53,[5] leaving behind his son, Frederick William von Meister.
As a descendent of Prussian nobility, William had the honour of carrying von in his last name.[2]