Ulbricht graduated from Penn State in 2009 and returned to Austin. By the time Ulbricht graduated, he had become interested in libertarian economic theory he adhered to the political philosophy of Ludwig von Mises, supported Ron Paul, promoted agorism, and participated in college debates to discuss his economic views. He then attended Pennsylvania State University, where he was in a master's degree program in materials science and engineering and studied crystallography. Ulbricht attended the University of Texas at Dallas on a full academic scholarship, and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in physics.

He attended West Ridge Middle School and Westlake High School, both near Austin, graduating from high school in 2002. He was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. He is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2017 and the U.S. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2015, he was convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, distributing narcotics, distributing narcotics by means of the internet, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to traffic fraudulent identity documents, and conspiracy to commit computer hacking. In 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Ulbricht and Silk Road was taken offline. Ulbricht ran the site under the pseudonym ' Dread Pirate Roberts', after the fictional character from The Princess Bride.

The site operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services. Ross William Ulbricht (born March 27, 1984) is an American serving life imprisonment for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

Silk (2015) #2 by Robbie Thompson