Tad Smith

Tad Smith
Born	Thomas Sidney Smith, Jr.
Occupation(s)	Business executive, adjunct professor
Years active	1999–present
Known for	Former president and CEO of Sotheby's

Thomas Sidney "Tad" Smith, Jr. (born June 1965) is a prominent American executive who formerly held the roles of president and CEO at Sotheby's. In addition, he serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Stern School of Business of New York University.

Education

Smith completed his undergraduate studies in 1987 at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, earning an AB degree. During his time there, he was honored with the R.W. Van de Velde Prize for exceptional junior independent research. He subsequently pursued an MBA at Harvard Business School, where he graduated as both a George F. Baker scholar and a Horace W. Goldsmith fellow.

Career

Prior to his tenure at Sotheby's, Smith was the CEO of the US division of Reed Business Information and occupied several senior positions at Cablevision over a five-year period ending in 2014. Between February 2014 and March 2015, he led New York's Madison Square Garden as president and CEO, overseeing a doubling of net profits in the second half of 2014.

In March 2015, Smith took over from William F. Ruprecht as Sotheby's president and CEO. His remuneration package included a base salary of $1.4 million, an annual bonus target equal to twice his base pay, and long-term incentives in the form of Sotheby's stock awards.

The October 2019 acquisition of Sotheby's by Patrick Drahi for $3.7 billion resulted in shareholders receiving $57 per share; Smith's personal gain from this transaction was $28 million. Soon after the takeover, Drahi appointed Charles Stewart, CFO of Altice USA, to replace Smith.

Since 1999, Smith has been imparting knowledge as an adjunct professor at NYU Stern, focusing on "Strategy and Finance for Technology, Media, and Entertainment Companies."

Personal life

Smith is married to Caroline Mitchell Fitzgibbons, who works as a real estate agent. The couple has two children and lives in Bronxville, New York.