Tom Anderson Net Worth: $60 Million (approx.)
| Net Worth: | $60 Million (approx.) |
| Date of Birth: | Nov 8, 1970 |
| Age: | 52 years |
| Profession: | Businessperson, Internet Entrepreneur |
| Nationality: | United States of America |
Tom Anderson net worth is around $60 million. Tom Anderson made his wealth as the co-founder of the social networking website Myspace and through many real estate investments.
Tom co-founded Myspace in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. Tom Anderson became famous because his photo was the default friend for everyone who joined the social network.
Tom Anderson Biography:
Tom Anderson was born on November 8, 1970, in Escondido, California. His father was an entrepreneur. Tom was a hacker using the pseudonym “Lord Flathead when he was in school.
| Nаmе: | Тоm Аndеrѕоn |
| Rеаl Nаmе: | Тhоmаѕ Аndеrѕоn |
| Gеndеr: | Маlе |
| Аgе: | 52 уеаrѕ |
| Віrth Dаtе: | 8 Nоvеmbеr 1970 |
| Віrth Рlасе: | Ѕаn Dіеgо, Саlіfоrnіа, Unіtеd Ѕtаtеѕ |
| Nаtіоnаlіtу: | Аmеrісаn |
| Неіght: | 1.83 m |
| Wеіght: | 78 kg |
| Ѕехuаl Оrіеntаtіоn: | Ѕtrаіght |
| Маrіtаl Ѕtаtuѕ: | Ѕіnglе |
| Wіfе/Ѕроuѕе (Nаmе): | N/А |
| Сhіldrеn: | N/А |
| Dаtіng/Gіrlfrіеnd | |
| (Nаmе): | N/А |
| Рrоfеѕѕіоn: | Іntеrnеt еntrерrеnеur, Со-fоundеr оf МуЅрасе |
| Nеt Wоrth: | $60 mіllіоn |
After he hacked into Chase Manhattan Bank’s computer system, the FBI raided the Anderson home and confiscated Tom’s computer equipment. They didn’t arrest Tom Anderson because he was only 14 at the time, but he was put on probation.
After high school, Tom Anderson enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to study English and later served as the lead vocalist of the band Swank. Tom moved to Taiwan, then returned to California to attend film school at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Anderson Career:
Tom Anderson originally came to work on Myspace via a company called eUniverse which was founded by internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan.
In 2000, Tom Anderson was working as a copywriter and product tester at a digital storage company called XDrive. At XDrive he met future Myspace co-founder Chris DeWolfe. The company went bankrupt the following year. Tom and Chris soon co-founded ResponseBase, a direct marketing company.
Tom Anderson and Chris sold ResponseBase to eUniverse in 2002 and became eUniverse employees. The idea behind Myspace came about after the 2002 launch of Friendster. Several people with Friendster accounts were employees at eUniverse and they quickly recognized the potential for such a social network. They formed a team and set about to mimic the more popular features of the rival social networking website.Anderson created the first Myspace pages in 2003, and after eUniverse became Intermix Media, Myspace gained popularity.
Myspace was sold to News Corp in 2005 and at that time it was used by 16 million people per month, and by January 2006, 200,000 new users were signing up every day. Myspace had grown to become the most popular social network in the U.S. by June 2006, and it held this rank until April 2008 when it was taken over by Facebook.Myspace declined rapidly in popularity after that.
In the prime of Myspace, the company employed 1,600 employees. That was reduced to 1,000 after laying off 30% of the workforce in June 2009. By June 2011, further job cuts reduced its size to 400 employees. In June 2011, Myspace was sold to Specific Media for $35 million plus a 5 percent equity stake in Specific Media. Justin Timberlake also took a small stake in the deal.
News Corp Acquisition:
News Corp acquired Myspace for $580 million. Myspace had been restructured several times resulting in a rather complicated equity shareholder pool. To start with company had received $15.3 million in early funding from a company called VantagePoint.
Then, in February 2005, Myspace took on another $15.5 million from a company called Redpoint. At the time of the Redpoint investment, 25% of the equity was set aside for six employees who were considered the founders of Myspace. This group included Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe who each sold $3 million worth of their equity to Redpoint.
There was one catch to the Redpoint investment though – If Redpoint was able to sell Myspace for greater than $125 million within one year, the founders stake would be limited at that $125 million valuation. That meant, when News Corp acquired Myspace for $580 million, the six founders received a combined $30 million.
According to the book “Stealing Myspace” by Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin, DeWolfe and Anderson each took $10 million of that cut, leaving $10 million for the remaining four founders to split. DeWolfe and Anderson were then both given two-year $30 million contracts with News Corp.
Redpoint made $44.5 million off their $15.5 million investment in less than a year. VantagePoint made $139 million off their $15.3 million investment. In total, between cash outs, acquisitions and salary, Tom Anderson and DeWolfe both grossed roughly $40 million from the Myspace venture.
Tom Anderson Other Ventures:
Tom Anderson invested a share of his Myspace earnings into distressed real estate, most notably in Las Vegas, which became quite valuable. He also invested in a Facebook gambling app called RocketFrog. In 2009, Tom had a cameo in the Judd Apatow film “Funny People,” which starred Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann. Today, he describes himself as “happily retired.”
Tom Anderson Interessting facts:
- Tom Anderson is an active user of other social media platforms, such as Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram.
- Tom Anderson is interested in photography and has said that his friend, photographer Trey Ratcliff, helped him develop his photography skills.
- Tom Anderson enjoys traveling internationally to take photographs of landscapes in places like Myanmar and Thailand.Anderson posts his impressive photographs on his Instagram account (“myspacetom”), where he has amassed more than 630,000 followers.
