Tad has led the transformation of numerous companies by prioritizing the client experience. His success in creating significant shareholder value is built on deep expertise in operations, digital reinvention, growth escalation, and a relentless focus on service. Tad Smith was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Director of TheKey (formerly Home Care Assistance) in November 2020.
Beginning in October 2020, Tad served as a member of the board of Capitol Investment Corp V, and stepped down in July 2021 after the successful merger with real estate tech company, DOMA. Prior to that, he was the President and CEO of the NYSE-listed global auction house Sotheby’s, serving from 2015 through 2019, where he successfully digitized, modernized, expanded, and then sold the company.
From 2014 to 2015, Tad was President and CEO of The Madison Square Garden Company, a publicly-traded, diversified cable media, live entertainment, and sports company that included the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers. From 2009 to 2014, Tad served as President, Local Media, later adding Cablevision Media Sales, of the New York cable operator Cablevision, which was controlled by the same shareholder as The Madison Square Garden Company.
From 2000 to 2009, Tad worked for the global media company now known as RELX, where he last served as Chief Executive Officer of the US business-to-business division, Reed Business Information. In that capacity, he oversaw and digitized more than 100 magazines and data businesses.
Tad is a member of the board of Lindblad Expeditions, an adventure travel company, and is a director of Ocean Outdoor UK, a digital outdoor advertising company based in London. He is a board member of the adtech company, Simulmedia, and a Board Observer for the e-commerce company, Verishop. Tad is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Zero Gravity Corporation, which provides flights in zero gravity environments, and an advisor to UK-based MINTUS, which seeks to fractionalize high value assets.
Since 1999, Tad has served as an adjunct professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University, where he teaches a finance and strategy class to MBAs. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Harvard Business School and the Board of Advisors of the Hospital for Special Surgery as well as the Board of Directors of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, and the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Tad received a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar and a Horace W. Goldsmith Fellow. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, where he received the R.W. Van de Velde Award.