"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."
"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. It's really important to us to balance the structure"
"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's 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."
Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla began uploading videos around YouTube's launch and grew Smosh into the platform's biggest channel, first to reach 10 million subscribers. Smosh was acquired by Defy Media, which spurred rapid expansion but later collapse and uncertainty. Padilla left in 2017 over creative differences and returned in 2023 when he and Hecox repurchased Smosh from Mythical. They appointed Alessandra Catanese as CEO. Since 2023 the company has doubled staff, expanded content across five channels, developed more projects, and prepared a move into a 32,000-square-foot Los Angeles studio to enable further production scale.
Read at Fast Company
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