Who founded Turning Point USA?

1. Origins: a teen activist and a wealthy mentor teamed up

Charlie Kirk — then about 18 — launched Turning Point USA after meeting businessman Bill Montgomery; a month after their first meetings they established the organization in 2012, with Montgomery handling behind‑the‑scenes setup and Kirk driving field activity and public outreach ^{[2] [1]}. Multiple accounts portray Montgomery as the mentor and initial back‑office force, and Kirk as the visible co‑founder who built the group’s campus network ^{[3] [1]}.

2. Who 'counts' as founder? Public narrative versus internal credit

Public sources and TPUSA materials emphasize Charlie Kirk as the founder and president, naming him repeatedly as the organization’s founder and chief executive in bios and on TPUSA’s own site ^{[4] [5]}. Independent coverage and encyclopedic entries, however, list both Kirk and Bill Montgomery as founders, while noting Montgomery “often described himself as the group's co‑founder” even if Kirk was the movement’s public leader ^{[1] [2]}.

3. The founder’s role: fundraising, recruiting and controversy

Kirk’s role extended beyond founding rhetoric: he is presented as the chief fundraiser and the public face who recruited student leaders and drew major donors to scale TPUSA from a small campus project into a national operation ^{[6] [3]}. That prominence also made him the focal point of criticism and investigative reporting about TPUSA’s practices and political activities—coverage that linked the group’s operations to large donor networks and contested campaign‑activity boundaries ^{[7] [6]}.

4. Bill Montgomery’s contribution: mentor, organizer, co‑founder in some accounts

Reporting describes Montgomery (William) as the businessman who encouraged Kirk to pursue activism full‑time and who completed the initial nonprofit paperwork; some sources call him a co‑founder while others frame him as mentor and early sponsor rather than the movement’s ongoing public leader ^{[2] [1] [3]}. Available sources do not detail Montgomery’s later operational role relative to Kirk beyond those founding contributions ^{[1] [2]}.

5. How sources diverge and why that matters

Encyclopedic and news sources consistently name both Kirk and Montgomery in the organization’s origin story, but TPUSA’s own materials and many media narratives foreground Kirk as the founder and principal architect of its national strategy ^{[1] [4]}. This divergence matters because institutional credit shapes who is seen as responsible for agendas, fundraising decisions, and political tactics—a point underscored by reporting on TPUSA’s growth and controversies ^{[6] [7]}.

6. The post‑founder era and organizational continuity

After Kirk’s death in 2025, coverage and TPUSA statements indicate continuity of the organization’s mission and leadership transition, naming Erika Kirk as CEO and board chair while noting the organization’s substantial donor base and political activities that predate and survive that change ^{[6] [4]}. Sources show TPUSA’s network and funding had expanded dramatically under Kirk’s leadership, suggesting institutional momentum beyond any single founder ^{[3] [6]}.

7. Bottom line and what reporting does not say

Bottom line: most reliable accounts list Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery as the founders of Turning Point USA in 2012, with Kirk as the movement’s dominant public founder and Montgomery as his mentor and early co‑founder ^{[1] [2]}. Available sources do not mention detailed internal legal documents specifying founder titles beyond press and biographical reporting, so some nuances about formal recognition within the nonprofit’s internal governance are not found in current reporting ^{[1] [4]}.