Stephen Witt

Intro

This is the website of Stephen Witt. I am a Los Angeles-based author, television producer, and investigative journalist. I frequently write for The New Yorker magazine, and my latest book The Thinking Machine, the history of AI giant Nvidia, was published in the US in April 2025. My previous book, How Music Got Free, was published in 2015 and made into a television documentary.

If you’d like to:

  • interview me for your podcast, give me feedback, or set up a speaking gig, please email me directly
  • commission me for an article or other writing, please email my literary agent Chris Parris-Lamb
  • turn something I wrote into a screenplay or feature documentary, please email my film rights agent Sylvie Rabineau

Selected Work

The Thinking Machine

Published in the US in April 2025, The Thinking Machine is the history of Nvidia, as well as a biography of its charismatic CEO Jensen Huang. The story follows Jensen’s journey from immigrant dishwasher to CEO of the world’s most valuable company. Jensen is a fascinating, intense, and compelling character, and he made modern AI possible. As Bill Dally, former chair of the computer science department at Stanford University says, “Without Jensen we’d be ten years behind.”

Purchase The Thinking Machine here:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757558/the-thinking-machine-by-stephen-witt/

How Music Got Free

Published in June 2015, How Music Got Free is a narrative history of music piracy, and tells the true story of the scientists, smugglers and suits who fought the Internet’s first content war. It covers the scientific development of the mp3 and the fall of the record industry in detail, but the core of the story is the organized criminal conspiracy that infiltrated the music industry’s supply chain, leaking more than 10,000 albums to the Internet.

Selected Reviews:

  • Dwight Garner, New York Times: “How Music Got Free is Mr. Witt’s first book, and it has what a music executive might call crossover appeal. That is, it has the clear writing and brisk reportorial acumen of a Michael Lewis book.”
  • Nick Hornby, The Times (UK): “A terrific, timely, informative book, of particular value to anyone who has been left bewildered by the speed of change in listening habits in the 21st century.”
  • 100 Greatest Music Books of All Time, Billboard: “With methodical reporting and subtle, sardonic humor, Witt explains exactly how it all played out while implying that, one way or another, the collapse of the old system was inevitable.”

Purchase How Music Got Free here:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/315900/how-music-got-free-by-stephen-witt/9780143109341

Television Projects

I am the executive producer of two television documentary series, both of which can currently be found on Paramount Plus.

Supervillain, which premiered on Showtime in 2021, is a three-part history of the rise and fall of the controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine. Narrated by Giancarlo Esposito, the documentary focuses on 6ix9ine’s viral fame, his trolling tactics, and his legal struggles, culminating with his decision to cooperate as a federal informant. Supervillain is based on my 2019 Rolling Stone profile of 6ix9ine.

Based on my book of the same name, How Music Got Free tells the story of the mp3 era, and premiered at SXSW in 2024. Narrated by the Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, the docu-series features new interviews with Eminem, 50 Cent, Jimmy Iovine and many more. Co-produced with Eminem and LeBron James, the documentary can currently be seen on Paramount Plus.

Professional Writing

I have written a number of articles for magazines, websites and newspapers.

✭ = Personal favorite

§ = Viral hit

†  = Contains material adapted from How Music Got Free