Who Is William Luther Pierce? Age, Biography and Wiki
William Luther Pierce was born on September 11, 1933, and passed away on July 23, 2002. As of 2025, he would have been 92 years old. Pierce was an influential, albeit deeply controversial figure in American history, known primarily for his role as a white supremacist leader and founder of the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization. He was also an author whose writings, particularly "The Turner Diaries," have been cited as inspiration for various extremist groups and individuals.
| Occupation | Physicist |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | September 11, 1933 |
| Age | 68 Years |
| Birth Place | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | Georgia |
| Date of death | 23 July, 2002 |
| Died Place | Mill Point, West Virginia, U.S. |
Popularity
William Luther Pierce's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
William Luther Pierce's physical statistics are not as extensively documented as his ideological beliefs. However, during his lifetime, he was described as having an average build, typical for many men of his age. Unfortunately, specific measurements related to his height and weight are not publicly available.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
Details surrounding William Luther Pierce's family life are sparse, particularly in relation to his dating history. He was known to have been married twice, with some reports suggesting he had children from both marriages. However, much of his personal life remains obscured due to his controversial public persona.
His family moved to Texas when Pierce was four years old. The son of William Luther Pierce Jr. and Marguerite Ferrell, his Presbyterian family was of Scotch-Irish and English descent. His great-grandfather was the governor of Alabama and attorney general of the Confederate States of America.
Pierce's father became manager of an insurance agency but was killed in a car accident in 1942. His brother, Sanders "Sandy" Pierce, also engaged in racist politics.
Net Worth and Salary
Estimates regarding William Luther Pierce's net worth prior to his death in 2002 suggest that he accumulated significant wealth from his writings and the operations of the National Alliance. At the time of his death, his net worth was believed to be in the low millions, bolstered primarily by the sales of his books and the revenue generated through the organization. However, as a figure associated with white supremacy, any monetary success comes with heavy ethical implications tied to the ideologies he promoted.
In 1978, claiming the National Alliance was an educational organization, Pierce applied for and was denied, tax exemption by the Internal Revenue Service. Pierce appealed, but an appellate court upheld the IRS decision.
An anti-Zionist, he attempted during the Yom Kippur War to force McDonnell Douglas into canceling military contracts that sent armaments to Israel by buying shares of the company's stock and putting forward the motion at the national shareholder's meeting. The company rejected the motion and continued supplying Israel with weapons.
Career, Business and Investments
William Luther Pierce began his career in academia, earning a Ph.D. in physics. Over time, he shifted his focus towards extremist political activism and literature. He founded the National Alliance in 1974 and became known for his incendiary rhetoric against various ethnic groups. Pierce leveraged his writing skills to produce propagandist literature, most notably "The Turner Diaries," a dystopian novel that has been used as a manifesto by numerous hate groups.
Despite his death, his writings and ideology continue to influence contemporary white supremacist movements and have found renewed relevance in discussions about hate speech and extremism in modern society.
Born in Atlanta to a Presbyterian family of Scotch-Irish and English descent, Pierce graduated from high school in 1952 and went on to receive a bachelor's degree in physics from Rice University in 1955 as well as a doctorate from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1962.
He became an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University in that year. In 1965, he left his tenure at Oregon State University and became a senior researcher for the aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney in Connecticut. He moved to the Washington, D.C.
area and became an associate of George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, who was assassinated in 1967. Pierce became co-leader of the National Youth Alliance, which split in 1974, with Pierce founding the National Alliance.
Social Network
William Luther Pierce maintained a low profile regarding social media. However, his legacy persists in various online forums and platforms where white supremacist ideology is discussed and propagated. Groups and individuals inspired by his work often operate in obscured online spaces, aiming to spread his controversial messages.
William Luther Pierce III (September 11, 1933 – July 23, 2002) was an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist political activist. For more than 30 years, he was one of the highest-profile individuals of the white nationalist movement.
A physicist by profession, he was author of the novels The Turner Diaries and Hunter under the pen name Andrew Macdonald. The former has inspired multiple hate crimes including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Pierce founded the white nationalist National Alliance, an organization which he led for almost 30 years.
Education
Pierce received his education at the University of Oregon, where he completed his undergraduate studies in physics. He later earned his Ph.D. in the same field from the University of Colorado. Although his educational background was solid, his later pursuits veered sharply away from science into the realms of race-based extremism and political activism.
Pierce was at the time the chief voice for violent action in the party, out of the faction within it that desired revolutionary action. Pierce attempted to organize university students to the cause and promoted a philosophy of "total revolution", bringing in young militant neo-Nazis into the party.
The other key member of this faction was James Mason, the author of Siege, who Pierce helped recruit into the party as a teenager in 1968. Another was a teenage adherent, Joseph Tommasi. Pierce held Tommasi in high esteem for his militancy.
In March 1969, a NSWPP phone line operated by Tommasi that played a prerecorded message by Pierce which advocated murdering Black people was shut down. Another Pierce message advocated murdering U.S. Senators.
That same year, born of their ideological commonality, Pierce and Tommasi launched the National Socialist Liberation Front (NSLF) as a youth wing of the NSWPP, aiming for it to appeal to White college students.
