# Michael Truell

> Michael Truell is the 25-year-old co-founder and CEO of Anysphere, the company behind Cursor — the AI-native code editor that reached $2 billion ARR faster than any SaaS company in history. A former Google intern and MIT dropout who won the ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize and IOI medals in high school, Truell co-founded Cursor in 2022 with three MIT classmates, launching it publicly in March 2023. By November 2025, Cursor had raised $2.3 billion at a $29.3 billion valuation — and in April 2026, SpaceX secured an option to acquire the company for $60 billion. Truell's north star: replace coding itself with something better.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Cursor (Anysphere)
- **Organizations:** Anysphere, Cursor, Neo (Neo Scholars program)
- **From:** New York City, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, Horace Mann School, Computer Science & Mathematics (dropped out), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-created Halite programming competition used by 5,500+ users, many of whom had never coded before, Won 2017 ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing ($10,000 award), Won multiple medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)

## Career timeline

- **~2014** — Age 14: Co-created Halite, an online programming competition, with Benjamin Spector at Horace Mann School
- **2018** — Won the ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing ($10,000) for Halite; won IOI medals
- **2018** — Enrolled at MIT studying Computer Science and Mathematics
- **2019** — Interned at Google working on language models for feed ranking; met Neo investor Ali Partovi
- **2019-2021** — Additional internships at Two Sigma and Octant; became a Neo Scholar
- **2022** — Left MIT; co-founded Anysphere with Aman Sanger, Sualeh Asif, and Arvid Lunnemark
- **2023-03** — Launched Cursor publicly — AI-native code editor built from the ground up
- **2023-10** — Raised $8M seed round led by OpenAI Startup Fund; angel investors included Nat Friedman and Arash Ferdowsi
- **2024-07** — Closed $60M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz at $400M valuation
- **2024-11** — Acquired AI code-completion startup Supermaven
- **2025-01** — Hit $100M ARR — fastest SaaS company in history to reach this milestone
- **2025-06** — Raised $900M Series C led by Thrive Capital at $9.9B valuation; $500M ARR
- **2025-11** — Closed $2.3B Series D led by Accel and Coatue at $29.3B valuation; crossed $1B ARR
- **2025-12** — Acquired code-review platform Graphite for $290M+
- **2026-02** — Cursor crossed $2B ARR; Forbes estimated Truell's net worth at $1.3 billion
- **2026-04** — SpaceX secured an option to acquire Cursor for $60 billion

## Achievements

- Co-created Halite programming competition used by 5,500+ users, many of whom had never coded before
- Won 2017 ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing ($10,000 award)
- Won multiple medals at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)
- Selected as one of 30 annual Neo Scholars by Ali Partovi
- Co-built the fastest-growing SaaS company in history — $100M ARR in 12 months
- Grew Cursor to $2B ARR within ~3 years of launch
- Achieved a $29.3B company valuation at age 25
- Named youngest CEO of a decacorn ($10B+ valuation) startup
- Became a billionaire by age 25 with ~4.5% equity stake (~$1.3B per Forbes)
- Led company to acquire Supermaven and Graphite for expanded AI capabilities

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — SpaceX (xAI) secured an option to acquire Cursor for $60 billion, or pay $10 billion for a partnership arrangement.
- **2026-02** — Cursor crossed $2 billion in annual recurring revenue; Forbes estimated Truell's net worth at $1.3 billion.
- **2025-12** — Cursor acquired code-review platform Graphite for $290M+.
- **2025-11** — Closed $2.3B Series D at $29.3B valuation; crossed $1B ARR milestone.
- **2025-06** — Raised $900M Series C led by Thrive Capital at $9.9B valuation; hit $500M ARR.

## Links

- Website: https://mntruell.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mntruell
- GitHub: https://github.com/truell20

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-truell
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12