If you’ve been browsing the web for a few years, the name MySpace may sound familiar to you. Before Facebook and Twitter appeared on the scene, Chris DeWolfe, Jon Hart and Tom Anderson founded this platform that became one of the first social networks to reach a significant global audience. Although it emerged in the United States, it enjoyed popularity in various parts of the world.
Of the three initial members of the project, Anderson was the best known. This was not due to his position as president within the company, 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 to the side with a white t-shirt and a white board with notes in the background.
The man who changed his life after the sale of MySpace
Anderson set his profile photo with the launch of the social network in 2003. Curiously, although as we will see below he is no longer linked to the social network and his life has changed drastically, still clinging to that 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 too long. In 2005, in one of its best moments, it was sold to tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for $580 million. It is unclear how much money Anderson received from the transaction, but he made enough of a fortune to retire four years later. In 2009, he resigned as chairman of the board of directors and started a new life.
Tom Anderson’s life after MySpace
The same year he left the company completely, Specific Media Group and singer Justin Timberlake reached an agreement to buy it for approximately 35 million dollars. As we can see, they paid much less money than News Corp had disbursed. That investment had been far from becoming a wise business decision. As a result of the changes imposed by the new owners, “Tom” was no longer the default MySpace friend.
Tom Anderson’s life after MySpace
Anderson’s life changed drastically when he completely disengaged from MySpace. As she tells in an interview with PetaPixel, in 2010 she discovered her love for photography. This creative activity captivated him so much that it ended up becoming “a way of life.” Anderson says that she stripped herself of “all other responsibilities” to travel and shoot with her camera. On her Instagram profile, whose username is “myspacetom”, we can find images of landscapes ranging from the Grand Canyon to Singapore.
In several interviews he has said that he is not interested in returning to the world of technology, although he has not completely closed the door. “I will never say never, because more than anything I like the idea that anything can happen. I don’t know exactly where my life will take me,” he said some time ago. His life, for the moment, has as its essence “adventure and the unknown“, which also includes cultivating hobbies such as golf, surfing, interior design and writing.
Images | Tom Anderson
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