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Chris DeWolfe
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.[1]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Washington (B.A., 1988)
University of Southern California (MBA, 1997)[1]
OccupationCEO of Jam City
Known forCo-founder of Myspace

Chris DeWolfe (born 1966) is an American entrepreneur and the former chief executive officer and co-founder of Myspace (along with Tom Anderson).[2] Since 2010, DeWolfe has been chief executive officer of Jam City, a video game developer he co-founded.

Early life and education

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DeWolfe is a native of Portland, Oregon.[3] He went to Lincoln High School,[4] then graduated from the University of Washington in 1988.[5] DeWolfe completed a master's of business administration degree from USC Marshall School of Business in 1997.[5] He was honored by the school as Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006.[6]

Career

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Myspace

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Main article: Myspace

DeWolfe got his vision for Myspace while taking a course titled, "The Impact of Tech on Media and Entertainment," during the final year of his MBA program. In the final project for his class, DeWolfe created "Sitegeist" which had elements of CitySearch, Match.com mixed with instant messaging. DeWolfe got an "A" on his project and used it as inspiration in creating MySpace.[7]

DeWolfe was involved with the sale of Myspace to News Corporation in 2005 for $580 million, and remained as its chief executive officer until March 2009, at which point, Myspace was larger than its competitor, Facebook.[8][9][10] During DeWolfe's tenure, Myspace grew to attract over 135 million worldwide unique visitors a month.[11] On April 22, 2009, News Corp. announced DeWolfe would step down as CEO to become a strategic adviser and serve on the board of Myspace China. Former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta replaced him.[12]

Jam City

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Main article: Jam City (company)

DeWolfe is a co-founder and CEO of Jam City, a Los Angeles-based video game developer.[13] The inspiration for Jam City came during DeWolfe’s days at MySpace. In a 2006 trip DeWolfe made to Japan, DeWolfe met with SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son, where the two discussed gaming and the potential of mobile gaming.[14] The social nature of games and the fast growth of mobile gaming in countries like Japan inspired him to start Jam City.[3] DeWolfe founded Jam City in 2010 alongside former 20th Century Fox executive Josh Yguado and former Myspace executives Colin Digiaro and Aber Whitcomb when they received backing from Austin Ventures to buy a gaming startup called MindJolt.[15] Under DeWolfe's leadership, Jam City has grown to more than 825 employees and nine studios, as of May 2021. Its games, which include Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, Disney Emoji Blitz, and Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, have been downloaded 1.3 billion times and Jam City reached a deal to become a public company through a merger with DPCM Capital Inc., with a $1.2 billion valuation.[16]

Recognition

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In 2006, DeWolfe was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in the world.[17] In 2007, he was chosen by Barbara Walters as one of her 10 most fascinating people[18] and won the Producers Guild of America's Vanguard Award in 2009.[19]

Other roles

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DeWolfe is an investor in the travel site Gogobot.[20] DeWolfe also served on the board of trustees of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art[21] and is on the board of directors for Woven Digital.[22]

Personal life

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DeWolfe lives in Los Angeles, California. He has two children.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b "MySpace cowboys, Chris DeWolfe". Fortune. September 4, 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2021 – via CNN Money.
  2. ^ "Jam City CEO Chris DeWolfe Talks Mobile Gaming Strategy—And A 2019 IPO". Fast Company. 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  3. ^ a b Chaykowski, Kathleen (June 12, 2017). "Former MySpace CEO Makes A Comeback As A Mobile Gaming Hitmaker". Forbes. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  4. ^ Angwin, Julia (2009). Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6694-0.
  5. ^ a b "MySpace Cowboys, Chris DeWolfe". Fortune. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "USC Marshall » Lloyd Greif Center Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year". classic.marshall.usc.edu. 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  7. ^ Kozlowski, Lori. May 15th, 2012. "New Life: How Myspace Spawned A Start-Up Ecosystem." https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorikozlowski/2012/05/15/how-myspace-spawned-a-startup-ecosystem/
  8. ^ Arrington, Michael (2009-04-22). "It's Official: MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe Steps Down". techcrunch.com. TechCrunch. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  9. ^ Schonfeld, Erick (2009-06-25). "Facebook Finally Catches Up To MySpace In The U.S." techcrunch.com. TechCrunch. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  10. ^ "News Corp in $580m internet buy". BBC. BBC News. 2005-07-19. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  11. ^ Szalai, Georg (2007-02-23). "FIM makes Strategic acquisition". Hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  12. ^ Garrahan, Matthew (2009-10-22). "MySpace abandons race with Facebook". FT.com. The Financial Times. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
  13. ^ Rusli, Evelyn (2011-04-18). "A Myspace Founder Builds Again, Buying Game Companies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  14. ^ Vendt, Whitney (Winter 2017). "Mobile Media Mastermind". CSQ. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  15. ^ Shanley, Patrick (February 13, 2020). "Former Myspace Mogul Chris DeWolfe Reflects on Mobile Gaming's Future". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  16. ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 20, 2021). "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery publisher Jam City will launch SPAC at $1.2B value, buy Ludia for $175M". GamesBeat. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  17. ^ Foo, Sharin (2013). "Tom Anderson & Chris DeWolfe". time.com. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  18. ^ "The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2007". abcnews.go.com. December 6, 2007. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
  19. ^ "PGA to honor MySpace founders". The Associated Press. December 3, 2008. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  20. ^ Tweney, Dylan (April 17, 2012). "Gogobot hires SRI scientist to add artificial intelligence to its travel apps". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  21. ^ Wyatt, Edward (March 6, 2007). "Big Corporate Gift Expected for Los Angeles County Museum of Art". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  22. ^ "Former Myspace CEO Joins Woven Digital Board (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  23. ^ "Chris DeWolfe: His Space at the Top". CSQ. April 19, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
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