Ryan Smith (businessman)
Qualtrics co-founder and executive chairman
Ryan Smith (born June 28, 1978) is an American billionaire businessman and chairman of Smith Entertainment Group. He is the executive chairman and co-founder of Qualtrics, an experience management company based in Provo, Utah. Smith is also owner of the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL) in Salt Lake City. He was also a former co-owner of Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer (MLS).
Early life and education
Smith was born into a family based in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Eugene, Oregon. His father, Scott Smith, worked as a university professor at BYU, and his mother Nancy earned a PhD in information systems. While he was attending Brigham Young University's Marriott School of Business, he founded Qualtrics with his dad and brother, Jared. During his junior year at BYU, Smith dropped out to work on Qualtrics. He later returned to complete his degree in 2016.
Sports team ownership
Utah Jazz
On October 28, 2020, Smith bought a majority stake in the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from Gail Miller.
The public source identifies “Ryan Smith (businessman)” as qualtrics co-founder and executive chairman. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ryan, Smith and businessman.
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