Trae Stephens grew up in Lebanon, Ohio, and graduated from Georgetown University in 2005. He began as a computational linguist in the intelligence community, then joined Palantir in 2008.
He became a partner at Founders Fund in 2014. In 2016 he led the Defense Department effort on Donald Trump's transition team. He later served on the Defense Innovation Board and co-wrote a 2019 software acquisition study for the Defense Innovation Unit.
He co-founded Anduril with Palmer Luckey and others in 2017. He is executive chairman. He also co-founded Varda Space Industries in 2020, Sol in 2021 and Valinor Enterprises in 2024, and sits on the Flexport board.
Forbes reported that he became a billionaire in June 2025 after an Anduril funding round. He describes himself as a Christian.