# Michael Smith

> Michael Smith is a New York technology entrepreneur, StreetEasy co-founder and former CEO, and managing partner at Tribeca Heavy Industries. He led StreetEasy through its $50 million cash acquisition by Zillow in August 2013, later served as chairman, and subsequently co-founded String with Ari Horowitz.

- **Role:** Managing Partner at Tribeca Heavy Industries
- **Organizations:** StreetEasy, Tribeca Heavy Industries, String Discovery & Messaging, Credit Suisse, Enertiv
- **Education:** Hampshire College
- **Known for:** Co-founded and led StreetEasy through its $50 million cash sale to Zillow in 2013., StreetEasy had 34 employees and nearly 1.2 million monthly unique users when the acquisition was announced., Co-founded String Discovery & Messaging with Ari Horowitz.

## Career timeline

- **Before StreetEasy** — Worked at Credit Suisse, including responsibility for North American trading technology and telecommunications.
- **2004** — Began serving as managing partner at Tribeca Heavy Industries, according to the career history reported in January 2020.
- **2005** — Co-founded the company behind StreetEasy; served as CEO from 2005 to 2013.
- **2006** — StreetEasy was publicly operating in beta by February and launched during 2006.
- **2013-08** — Zillow announced the $50 million cash acquisition on August 19 and completed it on August 28.
- **2013-09** — Moved from CEO to chairman; Susan Daimler became operational leader as general manager of Zillow New York.
- **2014** — His StreetEasy chairmanship ended, according to retrospective reporting.
- **2015** — Became CEO of String Discovery & Messaging, co-founded with Ari Horowitz.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and led StreetEasy through its $50 million cash sale to Zillow in 2013.
- StreetEasy had 34 employees and nearly 1.2 million monthly unique users when the acquisition was announced.
- Co-founded String Discovery & Messaging with Ari Horowitz.

## Latest updates

- **2024-12** — The Real Deal reported McDonald’s litigation concerning roof rights and Smith’s Tribeca penthouse expansion, seeking at least $10 million and roof restoration. These were allegations; the report also noted Smith’s statute-of-limitations argument in related litigation and identified him as managing partner of Tribeca Heavy Industries.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msnyc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-smith
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26