Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the person or group who created Bitcoin. Nobody has proven who it is. That fits the design: Bitcoin does not need to trust its founder.
What is on record
On 31 October 2008 Satoshi sent the white paper to the Cryptography mailing list. On 3 January 2009 the genesis block was mined and the first software was released. In a P2P Foundation post on 11 February 2009, Satoshi explained the motive: conventional money depends on trust in central banks and banks, and that trust had often been broken.
Satoshi then worked on the code and posted on the BitcoinTalk forum. The last forum posts date from December 2010. After that, others such as Gavin Andresen continued the work as open-source software.
Claims and courts
Several people have been named as Satoshi, and some claimed it. In March 2024 the UK High Court (COPA v Wright) ruled that Craig Wright is not Satoshi and did not write the white paper.
Why it matters
A known founder can be pressured, arrested or bribed. Bitcoin has no such person to lean on. Its rules are kept by the people who run nodes, not by a leader.
Takeaway: Satoshi published a design and code, then stepped away. What remains is software anyone can check.