How much is Ryan Smith worth?
Ryan Smith | |
Net Worth |
$1.5 Billion |
Born |
1978 |
Age |
44 |
Designation |
Executive Chairman & Co-Founder |
Nationality |
U.S. Citizen |
Marital Status |
Married |
Last Updated |
17th Feb 2023 |
Introduction
Ryan Smith is an American billionaire businessman. Smith made most of his money from the company he co-founded, Qualtrics. With co-headquarters in Seattle, Washington and Provo, Utah, Qualtrics is an experience management company founded in 2002.
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Smith is a majority share holder of the Utah Jazz and also owns stake in Real Salt Lake of the Major League Soccer. Thanks to his business acumen, Ryan was named in Fortune’s 40 under 40 list in 2016.
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Early Life and Education
Ryan was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1978. His parents, Scott M. Smith and Nancy Smith Hill were both well educated. His dad worked as a university professor. Ryan’s mother has a Ph.D. in Information Systems.
Smith has a Bachelors in Science from the Brigham Youth University. While he was attending the Marriott School of Business, Ryan co-founded Qualtrics with his father and his brother, Jared Smith. He dropped out of school to work full-time, and returned in 2016 to finish his degree.
Ryan Smith Net Worth(2023)
The US based entreprenuer is worth $1.5 Billion as of 17th February 2023(via Forbes).
Professional Life
In 2002, Ryan Smith co-founded Qualtrics with his father, brother, and friend. For the first four years, their Provo home’s basement was the center of operations. At the same time, Smith worked in Brand Management with the Ford Motor Company for four months in 2003.
Taking this experienc back to Qualtrics, the comapny hit it’s first $1.3 Million with just 15 employees in 2006. In 2019, Qualtrics was acquired by SAP for $8 Billion. In January 2021, SAP spun out Qualtrics as a stand alone public company, and Smith purchased $120 Million worth of stock.
Personal Life
Ryan is married to Ashley, and they have five children together. They all live in Provo, Utah.
Before settling down, he spent two years in Mexico as a Missionary for his church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Ryan Smith Sports Teams
Utah Jazz
In 2020, Smith purchased a majority stake in the Utah Jazz for roughly around $1.66 Billion. It was annoucned on October 28, 2020 by the previous owner, Gail Miller. The purchase also included Vivint Arena(home of the Utah Jazz), their G-League team(Salt Lake City Stars), and management of Minor League Baseball team Salt Lake Bees.
Along with the purchase, Smith was also handed the responsiblites of hosting the 2023 All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City.
Real Salt Lake
In 2020, Dell Loy Hansen, the previous owner of the MLS team, sold it due to controversial comments on civil rights protests. Even though Smith wanted to purchase the team in September 2020, he put the plans on hold to get a hold of the Jazz first.
In January 2022, Smith and David S. Blitzer(owner of the Philadephia 76ers and New Jersey Devils) were announced as the majority owners of the Real Salt Lake.