William von Meister

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.

Early years William Ferdinand von Meister was born of noble German descent 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.

Career After leaving Georgetown in 1973, von Meister started a wholesale liquor company, but found it "boring" and decided to move into consulting. After creating a database for Litton Bionetics, he was hired by Western Union to create a computerized billing system. 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, which Meister claimed to be able to handle up to 100,000 users.

Personal life and death Bill von Meister has four siblings, Peter, Nora, Rudy and Joseph. Von Meister died of cancer in Great Falls, Virginia, at the age of 53, leaving behind his children, Katherine Neysa and Frederick William von Meister.

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