Tom Anderson, known as ‘MySpace Tom’, who was once the default friend on all Myspace profiles, now lives a relaxed but adventurous life out of the spotlight.
In the early 2000s, MySpace revolutionized social networking, allowing millions of people to create online identities, connect with friends, and share updates about their lives.
Co-founded in 2003 by Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, the platform experienced meteoric success.
With major investments from VantagePoint and Redpoint fueling its growth, MySpace was eventually sold to News Corp in 2005 for an impressive $580 million.
Anderson retired from MySpace in 2009. By 2010, he was no longer the default friend on the platform, replaced by a profile called “Today on MySpace” or “TOM.”
Anderson currently resides in Hawaii, where he has fully embraced a life of leisure and exploration.
Recently spotted at Costa Mesa Country Club in Southern California, Anderson was all smiles, wearing a butterfly-print shirt and a baseball cap while enjoying a casual outing with his dog.
After Myspace, Anderson has become an avid traveler and photographer, sharing images of stunning destinations like the Maldives and the Philippines. His love of photography, along with interests in surfing, architecture and design, shines through his social media profiles.
Recently spotted at Costa Mesa Country Club in Southern California, Tom Anderson was all smiles, wearing a butterfly-print shirt and a baseball cap while enjoying a casual outing with his dog.

Anderson, better known as MySpace Tom, now enjoys a relaxed lifestyle away from the technological world.

Anderson sold MySpace to NewsCorp for $580 million in 2005 and retired in 2009.
His biography in unknown (formerly Twitter) summarizes his current lifestyle: ‘Enjoying the good life / New hobbies: surfing, architecture-design, photography, golf.’
While he keeps a relatively low profile, his occasional social media posts offer glimpses into his life, from cheeky comments to updates on his hobbies.
In 2021, he jokingly commented on the state of social media with a funny tweet featuring a photo of then-President Donald Trump, joking about making a new friend on MySpace.
Financially secure and with an estimated net worth of $60 million, Anderson continues to explore opportunities beyond his MySpace legacy.
He has reportedly dabbled in real estate and expressed enthusiasm for a possible investment in SpaceX, although details have yet to be verified.
Anderson’s beachfront condo in Honolulu, spanning 2,492 square feet with three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, is valued at about $3.7 million, according to red fin.
For someone whose image is most associated with a grainy MySpace profile photo, Anderson’s evolution into capturing stunning National Geographic-style landscapes is a notable shift.
His journey into photography began at Burning Man in 2011, a festival known for its challenging and dusty atmosphere.

Co-founded MySpace in 2003 by Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, the platform experienced meteoric success.

Anderson currently resides in Hawaii, where he has fully embraced a life of leisure and exploration. His apartment is in the photo.
Despite the conditions, Anderson captured images that sparked his passion for art.
Encouraged by his friend and mentor, photographer Trey Ratcliff, Anderson developed his skills quickly, even describing himself as “a little impressed” by his early work in a 2012 interview with a photography blog. PetaPixel.
After stepping away from MySpace in 2009, Anderson explored several projects, including a cameo in an Adam Sandler film and an attempt to develop a baseball team in Las Vegas.
However, his transformative experience at Burning Man 2011 marked the beginning of his photographic journey.
Free from financial constraints, he set about traveling the world, capturing landscapes from the Thai Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai to thunderstorms over the Grand Canyon.
anderson said ABC News in 2014 that his photographic process combines patience and creativity.
He said he carefully waits for perfect lighting and composition in natural settings, but also enhances his images during post-processing.
“The less the camera is able to capture what you’re seeing in a scene, the more editing it will require,” Anderson said. ‘I’m not necessarily trying to represent nature exactly. I’m trying to make something beautiful like a painter would.

Anderson said he first fell in love with photography while he was at Burning Man in 2011.

A photograph Anderson took while walking through Kauai in Hawaii
Despite his success, Anderson acknowledges his shyness, especially when it comes to photographing people.
His landscapes occasionally feature unplanned human elements, but he said portraits or photojournalism are not his focus.
As a key figure in shaping the Internet during the 2000s and a photographer, Anderson sees the rise of photo-sharing apps and the democratization of photography as a positive development.
‘I think people feel more artistic and creative with something like Instagram that makes editing easier. That’s a good thing, for sure,” Anderson said. “I know a lot of people interested in trying photography and I think any boost to the creative life is a blessing.”
Ironically, Anderson’s Instagram account, @myspacetoma nod to the persona he created for himself on his platform.
When it comes to returning to the world of technology, Anderson said at the time that he was open-minded but not actively interested.
“A lot of people really seem to want that about me. On the one hand, it’s flattering,” Anderson said.
‘I will 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 have always attracted me.”

A photograph taken by Anderson of Manila, Philippines.
Last September, Anderson shared a never-before-seen direct message exchange with the late rapper Mac Miller, sent just days before his untimely death.
Posting on . Remembering Mac @MacMillerMemoir who passed away today in 2018.’
The screenshot showed Miller approaching Anderson, inviting him to make a cameo in an upcoming music video.
“We are shooting a video from September 5th to 8th and if you made a cameo that would be amazing,” Miller wrote.
Anderson responded: ‘Haha, what’s the concept?’ to which Miller explained, “just teleport to a bunch of different places, and there’s different people in each one.”
On September 7, 2018, at just 26 years old, Miller died of an accidental overdose at his home in Los Angeles. Miller rose to fame in 2011 with Blue Slide Park, the first independent album in more than a decade to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.