There was a time when MySpace was the most visited website in the entire United States — beating even Google on some days. Musicians launched careers on it. Teenagers spent hours customizing their profiles with glittery backgrounds and autoplay songs. Tom Anderson was everyone’s first friend. And then, almost overnight, Facebook arrived and MySpace fell apart in one of the most dramatic collapses in internet history.
But here is something most people do not know: MySpace is still alive in 2026. It still exists. And its owners — two brothers from California — just announced that a major relaunch is coming. The story of who owns MySpace today, how it got there, and where it is heading is one of the most fascinating roller-coaster rides in the history of the internet.
What Is MySpace?
MySpace is an American social networking service. Launched on August 1, 2003, it was the first social network to reach a global audience and had a significant influence on technology, pop culture, and music.
At its peak in 2008, MySpace had over 100 million monthly active users and was worth more than many thought possible for a website. MySpace was the first social network to reach a global audience. Today, the platform survives primarily as a music and entertainment destination, still accessible at myspace.com but nowhere near its former cultural dominance.
Who Owns MySpace Right Now in 2026?
MySpace is currently owned by Viant Technology LLC. The current key people running the platform are Tim Vanderhook as CEO and Chris Vanderhook as COO.
Viant Technology is a digital advertising and media technology company. The Vanderhook brothers — Tim and Chris — first bought MySpace in 2011 through their company Specific Media, and have retained control through all the corporate changes since. They are the longest-running owners MySpace has ever had — and they are not done with it yet.
Chris and Tim Vanderhook have confirmed that they are actively planning to relaunch the iconic social network. Chris stated: “We still own MySpace. We are stewards of the MySpace brand at this point, and we are going to relaunch MySpace.”
MySpace Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Party | Type | Period | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Anderson, Chris DeWolfe & Josh Berman | Original Founders | 2003 – 2005 | Founded MySpace in August 2003; sold to News Corp for $580 million |
| News Corp (Rupert Murdoch) | Media Conglomerate | 2005 – 2011 | Paid $580 million; MySpace peaked at 100M users under their ownership |
| Specific Media + Justin Timberlake | Advertising Company + Celebrity Investor | 2011 – 2016 | Bought from News Corp for just $35 million; Timberlake joined as investor |
| Time Inc. | Media Company | 2016 – 2018 | Acquired Viant (MySpace’s parent) for $87 million in February 2016 |
| Meredith Corporation | Media Company | 2018 – 2019 | Acquired Time Inc. in January 2018; spun off MySpace later that year |
| Viant Technology LLC | Current Owner | 2019 – Present | Vanderhook brothers retain control; relaunch announced in 2026 |
The Origin Story: Built in a Weekend, Worth Billions in Two Years
MySpace was founded by Chris DeWolfe, Tom Anderson, and Jon Hart and launched on August 1, 2003. In August 2003, several eUniverse employees with Friendster accounts saw potential in its social networking features and decided to build something better.
The platform grew at a speed nobody had seen before. Within two years of launch, it had become the fifth most-visited website on the internet. Artists like Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, and Panic! at the Disco used MySpace to build fanbases before any record label noticed them. It was the internet’s first true cultural phenomenon.
By 2005, MySpace’s founders sold MySpace to media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for $580 million. At the time, the site was the fifth most-viewed website online.
That $580 million price tag felt almost absurd at the time. Within three years, it looked like a bargain. By 2008, MySpace was worth an estimated $12 billion and was growing faster than anyone had imagined possible.
The Fall: How Facebook Destroyed a $12 Billion Empire
In early 2004, MySpace’s starting CEO Chris DeWolfe considered purchasing the newly-developed Facebook from Mark Zuckerberg for $75 million but passed due to the price tag. Facebook went on to completely dominate the social media market.
That decision — turning down Facebook for $75 million — is one of the most expensive mistakes in the history of technology. Today, Meta (the parent company of Facebook) is worth over $1 trillion.
Under News Corp’s ownership, MySpace struggled to keep pace with Facebook’s cleaner interface, better features, and explosive college-campus growth. Advertisers began following users away from MySpace and toward Facebook. By 2011, what had once been valued at $12 billion was sold for just $35 million — a 97% collapse in value in just three years.
Justin Timberlake and the $35 Million Rescue Attempt
The 2011 acquisition came with one of the most famous celebrity business stories of its era.
The 2011 acquisition began with an unusual gambit where the brothers issued a fake press release announcing that Justin Timberlake had joined their acquisition team — before they had even spoken to him.
In 2011, MySpace was sold to Justin Timberlake and Specific Media Group for $35 million. Timberlake — who played Facebook co-founder Sean Parker in the film The Social Network just one year earlier — became the public face of the relaunch. He was listed as a co-investor and creative partner, with Specific Media holding the actual controlling stake.
The relaunch repositioned MySpace as a music and entertainment platform rather than a general social network — leaning into the one area where it still had genuine cultural credibility. It was a smart pivot, but it was not enough to reverse the decline.
The Chain of Ownership After Specific Media
The corporate history of MySpace after 2011 involves more ownership changes than almost any other brand in internet history.
On February 11, 2016, it was announced that MySpace and its parent company had been purchased by Time Inc. for $87 million. On January 31, 2018, Time Inc. was in turn purchased by Meredith Corporation, and later that year, on November 4, 2019, Meredith spun off MySpace and its original holding company (Viant Technology Holding Inc.) and sold it to Viant Technology LLC.
Through every one of those transactions — from Specific Media to Time Inc. to Meredith to Viant Technology LLC — the Vanderhook brothers have remained in control of the underlying business. The corporate wrappers around them changed, but Tim and Chris Vanderhook never let go of MySpace.
The 2019 Data Loss Disaster
Just as Viant Technology was completing its final ownership consolidation, MySpace made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
In 2019, MySpace announced that a server migration had resulted in the permanent loss of nearly 12 years of uploaded music — an estimated 50 million songs from approximately 14 million artists uploaded between 2003 and 2015. The data was gone forever. For musicians who had used MySpace as their primary archive of early recordings, it was devastating. The incident briefly trended worldwide and reminded everyone that MySpace still existed — even if they had completely forgotten about it.
The 2026 Relaunch: MySpace Is Coming Back
The most exciting development in MySpace’s recent history is happening right now. Chris and Tim Vanderhook have announced that MySpace is expected to relaunch with an emphasis on nostalgia, restoring many of the features and visual elements that helped MySpace dominate the early years of social media.
Chris Vanderhook stated: “We still own MySpace. We are stewards of the MySpace brand at this point, and we are going to relaunch MySpace — we’re just waiting for the right time to do it.”
The relaunch plans focus on what made MySpace special in the first place — customizable profiles, music discovery, and a platform that gives artists and fans a direct connection outside of the algorithmic feeds that dominate TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook today. No confirmed launch date has been announced yet, but the Vanderhook brothers have stated clearly that the relaunch is a matter of when, not if.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns MySpace in 2026?
MySpace is owned by Viant Technology LLC, controlled by brothers Tim Vanderhook (CEO) and Chris Vanderhook (COO).
Q2. Who founded MySpace and when?
MySpace was founded by Tom Anderson, Chris DeWolfe, and Josh Berman, launching on August 1, 2003.
Q3. How much did News Corp pay for MySpace?
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million — one of the biggest social media deals of that era.
Q4. Did Justin Timberlake ever own MySpace?
Justin Timberlake was a co-investor in the 2011 acquisition of MySpace for $35 million, but Specific Media (the Vanderhook brothers) held the controlling stake — not Timberlake.
Q5. Why did MySpace fail?
MySpace lost its users to Facebook, which offered a cleaner interface and better features. Advertisers followed users, and the platform’s value collapsed from an estimated $12 billion to $35 million in just three years.
Q6. Is MySpace still active in 2026?
Yes. MySpace still operates at myspace.com and functions primarily as a music and entertainment platform, with a full relaunch confirmed by owners Chris and Tim Vanderhook.
Q7. What happened to MySpace’s music data in 2019?
In 2019, a failed server migration permanently destroyed approximately 50 million songs from 14 million artists uploaded between 2003 and 2015 — one of the biggest data loss events in internet history.
Q8. Could MySpace make a comeback?
Chris and Tim Vanderhook confirmed in 2026 that a relaunch is actively planned, focused on nostalgia, music, and the customizable profile culture that originally made MySpace famous.
MySpace is currently owned by Viant Technology LLC, controlled by brothers Tim Vanderhook (CEO) and Chris Vanderhook (COO). The platform was founded in 2003 by Tom Anderson, Chris DeWolfe, and Josh Berman, sold to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for $580 million in 2005, and then collapsed so severely that it sold for just $35 million in 2011 to Specific Media and investor Justin Timberlake. After passing through Time Inc., Meredith Corporation, and finally Viant Technology LLC in 2019, MySpace today survives as a music-focused platform — and its owners have just confirmed that a full relaunch is in the works for 2026.