"Twenty years ago, not too long after YouTube itself launched, Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla started uploading videos to the platform. What started as two teenagers trying to make each other laugh turned into the biggest channel on YouTube. It was the first ever to reach 10 million subscribers. Eventually, Smosh was acquired by a company called Defy Media. The company would expand rapidly-more videos, more cast members, even a movie-but then came turmoil and uncertainty for Smosh."
"Padilla left the company in 2017, largely due to creative differences with Smosh's parent company. He returned to the business in 2023, when he and Hecox purchased Smosh from YouTuber-led media company Mythical (which acquired the brand in 2019 following Defy Media's abrupt collapse). Alongside the purchase, Hecox and Padilla hired Alessandra Catanese-an executive with over a decade of experience in digital media-as CEO. In the ensuing two years, the company has steadily expanded its content offering while picking up new subscribers across five YouTube channels."
"With more content in development than ever, and more than twice as many employees as it had in 2023, Smosh is moving into a 32,000-square-foot Los Angeles studio that's roughly twice the size of its current headquarters. Alessandra Catanese: We physically just could not launch another show or take on a new project, no matter how much we loved it. So in this new building, it's both going to allow us to expand what we're doing and, more appropriately, house the employees that we have and create a little bit more of a structured environment."
Smosh began twenty years ago when Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla uploaded videos to YouTube and became the first channel to reach 10 million subscribers. The brand was acquired by Defy Media, expanded rapidly, and later faced turmoil after the parent company's collapse. Padilla left in 2017 and returned in 2023 when he and Hecox repurchased Smosh from Mythical. The leaders hired Alessandra Catanese as CEO and have since doubled staff, grown subscribers across five channels, and increased content development. Smosh will move into a 32,000-square-foot Los Angeles studio to enable new productions and house its expanded team.
Read at Inc
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