This chapter describes the development of Transparency International (TI) through the remarkable story of the transformation of the personal idea of its founder, Peter Eigen, and its esteemed recognition as one of the world’s most influential NGOs. Peter Eigen founded TI in May 1993 after two decades at the World Bank, in response to his frustration over the refusal of the World Bank to take action against corruption. The discussion includes a description of the central ideas on which TI was founded, the initial resistance to the use of transparency in its name, and the strategic choice of a headquarters that would not be linked to the United States.