What happened to Tom Anderson, the social media visionary who founded My Space before Facebook and Twitter

If you’ve been browsing the Internet for a few years now, the name MySpace may sound familiar to you. Before Facebook and Twitter Arriving on the scene, Chris DeWolfe, John Hart and Tom Anderson founded the platform, which became one of the first social networks to reach a significant global audience. Although it originated in the United States, it was popular in various parts of the world.

Of the three original participants in the project, Anderson was the most famous. This was not because of his position as the company’s president, but because all new MySpace users found him to be their first “friend.” He appeared with a profile photo in which he could be seen smiling and looking away while wearing a white T-shirt and a white board with notes in the background.

The Man Who Changed His Life After Selling MySpace

Anderson established his profile photo with the launch of the social network in 2003. Interestingly, as we will see below, he is no longer associated with the social network, and his life has changed dramatically. I still cling to this imagewhich currently appears on his Facebook, Instagram and X accounts. It is no longer a simple photograph, but a kind of personal brand that has spread over time.

MySpace was not under the direct control of its founders for long. In 2005, at one of its finest moments, it was sold to tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for $580 million. It is unclear how much money Anderson received from the deal, but he made enough wealth to retire four years later. In 2009, he resigned as chairman of the board of directors and began a new life.

The same year he left the company entirely, Specific Media Group and singer Justin Timberlake reached an agreement to buy it for approximately $35 million. As we can see, they paid much less money than News Corp spent. This investment was far from a wise business decision. As a result of changes made by the new owners, “Tom” was no longer the default MySpace friend.

Anderson’s life changed dramatically when he gave up MySpace entirely. As he tells PetaPixel, in 2010 he discovered his love for photography. This creative activity fascinated him so much that it eventually became a “way of life.” Anderson says he gave up “all other responsibilities” to travel and film. On his Instagram profile, whose username is “myspacetom,” we can find images of landscapes from the Grand Canyon to Singapore.

In several interviews, he said that he was not interested in returning to the world of technology, although he did not completely close the door. “I will never say never, because what I like most is the idea that anything can happen. I don’t know exactly where my life will take me,” he said some time ago. His life at the moment has its essence”adventure and the unknown“, which also includes developing hobbies such as golf, surfing, interior design and writing.

Images | Tom Anderson

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