Michael Acton Smith

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Michael Acton Smith OBE (born 1974) is CEO, Creative Director and founder of kids entertainment company Mind Candy - the driving force behind global kids phenomenon Moshi Monsters. He has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "a rock star version of Willy Wonka"^[1] and by The Independent as "a polite version of Bob Geldof."^[2]

Mind Candy created the online world of Moshi Monsters, which has over 75 million users around the world^[3] and has expanded offline^[4] into best selling toys, the number one selling kids magazine in the UK,^[5] a best selling DS video game,^[6] top 5 music album which has gone gold in the UK,^[7] books, membership cards, trading cards and much more.

In July 2011, Mind Candy was valued at $200 million.^[8]

Michael Acton Smith

Career

In 1998 whilst in his early twenties, Smith co-founded online gadget and gift retailer Firebox.com with university friend Tom Boardman. The pair started out with a rent-free attic and a £1,000 loan from Smith’s mother. Their breakthrough moment came in the form of the “Shot Glass Chess Set”. Within five years they were listed by The Sunday Times 'Fast Track 100' as the 13th fastest growing, privately owned business in the UK.^[9]

Following his success with Firebox, Michael secured $10m backing and launched Mind Candy in 2004.^[10] The company launched alternate reality game Perplex City, a global treasure hunt with £100,000 buried somewhere in the world that played out across various media including websites, text messages, magazines, live events, skywriting and multiple helicopters. The game gained positive press coverage ^[11] with Perplex City being hailed as the future of gaming. The game was also nominated for a BAFTA award in 2006 ^[12] yet only attracted a niche audience. After three years (and $9m spent) Perplex City was placed on indefinite hold.^[13]

With just $1m left in the bank, Smith took a final roll of the dice. In 2007, having been inspired by the growing success of Facebook and kids brands including Tamagotchi, Mind Candy launched online world Moshi Monsters. The risk proved to be his best decision to date.^[14]

Michael Acton Smith’s ultimate vision is to ‘build the largest entertainment brand in the world for this new digital generation of kids'.^[15]

Smith was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the creative industries.^[16]

Personal life

Smith was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where he lived with his parents and sister. The family spent many summers in the USA, as Smith’s father is American.

Smith studied Geography at the University of Birmingham, England where he met Tom Boardman at the chess club, who went on to be one of his best friends and co-founder of Firebox.com, Smith's first business. After university he worked briefly at investment bank Goldman Sachs which he left after six months.

Smith lives in central London. In his spare time he organizes boutique music festivals and networking events including Berwickstock^[17] and Silicon Drinkabout.^[18] He was recently ranked among the Twitter elite. His official Twitter username is @acton.^[19]

Honours and philanthropy

On 9 July 2013, Smith was awarded an honorary Doctorate at the University of Birmingham.

In 2013, Smith was listed in The Times Magazine 'Best Dressed Men' list ^[20]

In 2013, Smith attended the World Economic Forum where Mind Candy was recognised as a Technology Pioneer.

In 2012, Smith was included in the Evening Standard's 'London's 1000 most influential people 2012' ^[21]

In September 2012, Smith was The Guardian's MediaGuardian 100 guide to the most powerful people in Media and came 44th.^[22]

In June 2012, Smith was voted 5th in Wired Magazine's Top 100 of Britain's Digital Power List^[23]

In March 2012, Smith won 'Tech Guru 2012' at The Guardian's Digital Innovation Awards.^[24]

In January 2012, Smith was listed as No.36 in The Times '100 to watch in 2012' list.^[25]

In December 2011, Smith was profiled on BBC Radio 4 as the 'Moshi Monsters mogul.'^[26]

In November 2010, Smith was included in London's Evening Standard’s selection of ‘London's 1000 most influential people 2010: New Media'.^[27]

In May 2011, Smith was voted 12th in Wired Magazine’s Top 100 of Britain’s Digital Power List.^[28]

Smith is a member of the Courvoisier Future 500, an exclusive network of pioneers, entrepreneurs and revolutionary spirits from the arts, social enterprise, business, science, gastronomy, fashion and other sectors.

In February 2011, Smith was ranked within the Twitter elite as part of The Independent’s Twitter 100.^[29]

Smith is a regular speaker at events and conferences around the world. In 2011 Michael has spoken at Kidscreen (New York, U.S.), MIPTV (Cannes, France), The Children’s Media Conference (Sheffield, UK) and Develop (Brighton, UK).

Smith also founded Silicon Drinkabout a weekly Tech/Media meet up in Shoreditch, London designed to bring together those working within the Tech community - supported by David Cameron's Tech City initiative.^[30]

References

External links

Persondata
Name	Smith, Michael Acton
Alternative names
Short description	British businessman
Date of birth	1974
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death

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