Ryan Smith
Ryan Smith is chairman of Smith Entertainment Group, which he co-founded with his wife, Ashley. They own four sports franchises, including two among the “Big Four” leagues in the country. Few people own multiple major league teams. He bought the Utah Jazz (NBA) in October 2020. (He intends to keep the Jazz in Utah.) The deal also included the Delta Center (rebranded from the name Vivint Arena), the G League’s Salt Lake City Stars, and management of the Salt Lake Bees. He and his wife, Ashley, with investor David Blitzer bought Real Salt Lake (MLS) for about $400 million and revived the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League for $2 million. In April 2024, the Smiths completed a $1.2 billion transaction to move the Arizona Coyotes hockey team to Salt Lake City. In June 2024, the National Hockey League (NHL) and Smith Entertainment Group officially closed on the agreement that establishes an NHL franchise in Utah. While the community continues to vote for the official name of the team, for the 2024-2025 season, the team will be known as Utah Hockey Club.
Smith Entertainment Group owns other Utah-related businesses, including the Salt Lake City Stars (NBA G League) and Utah Jazz Gaming (NBA 2K League). They are also actively involved in the revitalization of Salt Lake City's downtown area, particularly around the Delta Center. On April 29, 2025, the Salt Lake County Council voted to approve the sale of 6.5 acres of the Salt Palace Convention Center to Ryan Smith and the Smith Entertainment Group for the development of a new sports and entertainment district. It was expected that SEG would demolish that part of the convention center and expand their footprint east from the Delta Center.[1]
In March 2025, he announced plans to construct more hockey rinks across Utah — specifically, one in every municipality. The Smith Entertainment Group also announced earlier in the season that it would donate hockey equipment to schools and help institute the sport into the PE curriculum.[2]
Founding and Selling Qualtrics
Ryan co-founded Qualtrics in 2002 with his brother Jared Smith, and his father, Scott Smith. He was the CEO for a time before the company was sold.
The company is based on technology first developed by Ryan and his father, a Brigham Young University researcher and professor. They recruited Stuart T. Orgill to join them.
“Initially conceived of as a survey tool for academics, the company morphed into a set of tools and deep data analysis optimized for assessing clients’ business vitality, as viewed through the eyes of their clients and/or employees.”[3]
- The idea came from Scott, a BYU professor of marketing research at the time, who wanted to create an online survey tool that could handle sophisticated research but was easy to use. Scott was working on the project when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. Ryan, then a BYU business student, wanted to spend time with his dad, so he left an internship at Hewlett-Packard and joined the venture. By the time Scott recovered, the pair had 20 clients.[4]
In 2012, he declined a $500 million cash offer for the company, preferring to grow the company. In 2018, he sold it for a “staggering” $8 billion in cash.[5]
Smith frequently guest lectures at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, and BYU’s Marriott School of Business.
Ryan is a sports fan and backs BYU athletics. (He earned a degree from the Marriott School of Business at BYU.) His cancer fighting charity, 5 for the Fight, has been a sponsor of the Jazz since 2016. He has roots in both basketball and hockey. He played Jr. Jazz growing up, as well as some roller hockey. He said he wants to grow youth hockey in Utah on a level with Jr. Jazz, which has 70,000 young participants.
Ryan grew up in Utah. He and his wife, Ashley, have five children. He served as a missionary in Mexico for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and often tweets #SundayThought quotes from Latter-day Saint and other spiritual leaders.[6]
