Fredrick Brennan

Fredrick Robert Brennan (February 21, 1994 – January 10, 2026) was an American software developer and type designer who founded the imageboard website 8chan in 2013, and repudiated it in 2019. Following 8chan's surge in popularity in 2014, largely due to the number of Gamergate proponents migrating to the site from 4chan, Brennan moved to the Philippines to work for Jim Watkins, who provided hosting services to 8chan and later became the site's owner. Brennan cut ties with 8chan in 2016 and with Watkins in 2018. He then became an outspoken critic of both 8chan and Watkins, and battled to try to take 8chan offline. Brennan was also an outspoken critic of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centers on 8chan posts by an anonymous figure named "Q", and Brennan researched who may be behind the Q identity.