Michael Jones is a recognized pioneer in consumer Internet technologies and the Web 2.0 movement, and one of the inventors of the open widget distribution model.
Jones joins MySpace from Tsavo Media, a Santa Monica technology and content business, where he was founding CEO. Within Tsavo, Jones successfully launched a consumer content platform initially applied to internally developed and acquired properties. He remains on Tsavo Media’s board of directors.
Prior to Tsavo, Jones served as Senior Vice President within AOL and CEO of Userplane following its August 2006 acquisition of Userplane, a company he co-founded. As a leading developer of tools for online communities, Userplane provided core infrastructure to MySpace along with thousands of other online communities.
At Userplane, Jones’s business leadership brought the company from startup to acquisition to integration within AOL’s social media division. There, he focused on the growth of AOL’s syndicated application strategy and social media monetization under the Userplane brand, coordinating with a variety of AOL divisions and internal technologies to pioneer widget and technology distribution to thousands of web publishers.
A serial entrepreneur, Jones has built and sold numerous businesses. He launched his first internet-venture business while attending the University of Oregon, where he earned a degree in International Business and Marketing. An active angel investor, advisor, and startup-board member, Jones is a highly visible member of the Los Angeles technology community. He resides in Manhattan Beach with his wife Jennifer and his two children Oceane and Orion.
