I remember 2005 like it was yesterday. I was a pimple-faced 12-year-old who listened to “Bring Me to Life” by Evanescence on repeat through clunky headphones connected to my first generation iPod. I parted my hair a little too far to the left and was trying out curse words like “crap face” and “douche monster.” I was undoubtedly an awesome embodiment of the early 2000s. But the looming memories that reigned over this time wasn’t my outrageous side-part, or my attempt to go full ‘emo’ with my music choice, or the time I realized in gym class I was way too old to not be wearing a bra. No, these were just tragedies of the era. What I remember most about the early 2000s was the emergence of Myspace.
Everyone who had a Myspace (which was absolutely everyone) had a mutual friend; it was Tom. All we knew about him was that he was the friendly creator of the first social media site that people went absolutely nuts over. Tom looked back at us from behind his left shoulder with an adorable smile and a jaw line that could cut glass. He stood in front of that memorable whiteboard with a bunch of gibberish written on it that I’d like to imagine was the the early stages of Myspace being brainstormed. Whoever he was, everyone knew Myspace Tom. I’m sure the Cal community would be shocked and proud to know that Myspace Tom is actually a Cal alumni.
Tom Anderson is from Escondido, California where he was a computer hacker while attending high school at San Pasqual High School. During this time, under the pseudonym “Lord Flathead,” the FBI was prompted to perform a raid after he cracked the security of Chase Manhattan Bank. Tom was never arrested because he was a young minor.
Later, Tom attended UC, Berkeley and studied English and Rhetoric. After graduating from our beloved Berkeley, he traveled to Taiwan, became the lead singer of a band named “Swank,” and got another degree in Critical Film Studies at UCLA. Tom met his Myspace co-founder Chris DeWolfe at a digital storage company they both worked at in 2000, and they both launched the site in 2003. Quite the impressive resume.
In 2005, Myspace was sold to News Corp for $580 million. By 2010, Tom felt as if his liberties in his own company were few and far between, so he decided to step back from his position as president. He left Myspace all together in 2012.
According to Tom’s twitter page, he “enjoy[s] being retired.” However, when asked about if he’ll ever return to his previous vocation, he says:
“I’ll never say never, because more than anything I like the idea that anything can happen. I don’t know exactly where my life will lead. Adventure and the unknown has always been appealing to me.”
photo credit:
twitter.com
celebnetwealth.com
gopixpic.com