“A Social Media CEO Who’s Nice”: MySpace Founder Unrecognizable After Selling Company For $580M

Tom Anderson, who co-founded MySpace in August 2003 at just 32 years old, was recently spotted at Costa Mesa Country Club in Southern California.

As he enjoys life away from the spotlight, the 54-year-old tech tycoon appeared happy and relaxed, sporting a butterfly-patterned shirt and baseball cap with a dog casually resting on his arm.

Social media users took notice of his laid-back appearance, with one saying: “MySpace Tom is looking fine.”

“Tom is living all our dreams,” another commented on one of his earlier Instagram posts.

Tom Anderson, who co-founded MySpace, chose a life of photography and global adventures following his retirement

Image credits: ABC News/giuliosaggin

Over the last week, amid widespread buzz around TikTok’s ban and restoration in the US, netizens have been flooding Anderson’s social media posts with comments begging him to swoop in and save the day.

“Come back tom we all miss you,” one said, while another wrote, “We need MySpace back bestie.”

“We need Myspace back!! Sorry we didn’t realize how good we had it!” admitted one.

“Bro come back. We need a social media CEO who’s nice,” another said.

“You never tried world domination,” one wrote, “and we didn’t appreciate you enough for that.”

With TikTok drama taking over the news over the last few days, netizens have been begging the former tech tycoon to make a comeback

Image credits: Tom Anderson (MySpace Tom)

MySpace used to be the go-to site for people to log in every day, share messages with friends, upload photos, and even play music before Facebook took over. It was the most visited social networking site in the world in the early 2000s and often had more visitors than Google.

During its glory days, Anderson’s iconic profile became a default friend to every new user’s friend list.

Image credits: Tom Anderson (MySpace Tom)

“Actually, things did go remarkably easy for us. I can’t say that we struggled for a long time; we only struggled for about a month,” he told Forbes in a 2006 interview about MySpace’s early days.

“When we were about a month into it, I remember thinking, ‘This may not work out.’ Just one day, in particular, we saw this huge spike because of people telling each other. It just went crazy from there,” he went on to say. “We didn’t have this big, long struggle behind it. We put it up, and it got popular very quickly.”

“We didn’t know how good we had it. Please come back,” a social media user recently commented on his post

Image credits: padronsmoker

Considered to be one of the pioneers in the social media space, MySpace became the world’s largest social network within a few years and was bought by News Corp., along with its parent company Intermix, for a cool $580 million in 2005.

Anderson stepped down as the president of MySpace and retired in 2009. Fans missed his default friend profile, which was replaced with a ‘Today On MySpace’ or ‘T.O.M.’ profile.

“For years it literally meant no work—I just didn’t want to spend one minute doing something for money,” he previously told Business Insider.

After retiring from MySpace in 2009, he did not chase after another revolutionary tech empire. Instead, he chose a life of sunsets, waves, and stunning photography.

MySpace and its parent company Intermix were sold for $580 million in 2005

Image credits: myspacetom

As he embraced the retirement life, he explored his passion for photography and architecture.

“When I left the work world, I started designing my dream house,” he was quoted telling the Red Bulletin in 2017.

“I dived into architecture and bought seven vacant lots. My plan was to build one house, move in, and build the next. If the next was better, I’d move in and sell the previous one – so on and so forth,” he continued.

Image credits: myspacetom

He has also been traveling the world and clicking jaw-dropping photos, which he often posts on his colorful Instagram grid.

“I haven’t wanted to take commissions or sell my photos, or do anything commercial with it — that would just feel like work, which I don’t want to do,” he told the outlet.

After retiring in 2009, Anderson explored his passion for photography and traveled to a number of countries

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Image credits: myspacetom

When it came to photography, he said he began uploading photos on Instagram as part of a challenge.

“During the year, I’ve travelled all over the world and made incredible friends,” he previously said in the caption of an Instagram post. “I’ve also lost people I love because of this pursuit 🙁 Photography has literally changed my life.”

Image credits: myspacetom

In the past, he has also spoken about how social media has changed the world of both photography and traveling.

“Instagram has really changed the travel industry,” he said during a 2017 interview with Business Insider.

“People see a photo on Instagram and decide to go. It’s that simple. Tourism has skyrocketed in photogenic places because of Instagram,” he added.

When it comes to traveling, Anderson advised: “Do it while you’re young and it’s so much easier”

Image credits: myspacetom

He also spoke about the importance of “time,” saying: “I tend to ‘splurge’ for convenience. I’ll pay a lot to not waste time. Time is the most important thing to me—how can you do all the things you want to do with such limited time … I’m hoping science of life extension makes progress.”

When it came to advice he would give youngsters eager to travel, he said: “Do it now! Don’t wait.”

Image credits: myspacetom

“If you have this inclination at all, it’s only going to get more difficult and ‘impossible’ the more responsibilities you take on,” he continued. “Work and family commitments will put you in a position where it’s very difficult to travel. Do it while you’re young and it’s so much easier.”

Anderson reportedly resides in Hawaii and has an estimated net worth of $60 million.

“Hey Tom, we need you now more than ever,” a social media user said

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