Tom Anderson

As founder, first friend and former President of MySpace, Tom simultaneously invented "social media" while revolutionizing the music industry. Started in 2003, Myspace became the #1 most visited site on the web by 2006, surpassing Internet titans such as Google, Yahoo and Amazon. In 2007, Nielsen Net Ratings reported that MySpace captured more than 10% of all minutes spent online. By the time Anderson left the company in 2009, he had amassed more than 350 million friends on MySpace, making him the first and still ultimately the biggest "influencer" of all time. His MySpace profile photo--the lo-res, pixelated photo which he never changed and still uses to this day--is estimated to have been viewed more times than any single photograph in history. Before retiring in 2009, TIME Magazine included Anderson among its list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Barbara Walters named him one of her 10 Most Fascinating People. After leaving the work world, Anderson has gone on to become an internationally recognized photographer, traveling to more than 40 countries in pursuit of his aesthetic passion. Tom's photos have appeared in countless magazines, newspapers, and websites. Less known than his photography is Anderson's love of architecture, which he realizes through his partnership in the Blue Heron design-build architecture firm. Anderson has designed five houses, including his own home in Las Vegas. Tom also resides in Hawaii and Los Angeles. Prior to his entrepreneurial and creative pursuits, Tom graduated with the Departmental Citation in English &a; Rhetoric at the University of California at Berkeley and later completed a Masters in Film &a; Critical Studies at UCLA. He is both a voracious reader and self-described "film junky."