Tom Staggs

In addition to his role at Smash Capital, Tom Staggs is co-founder and co-ceo (together with Kevin Mayer) of Candle Media, a premium content, community, and commerce company whose assets include Moonbug and Hello Sunshine. Tom previously spent nearly 27 years at The Walt Disney Company. He was most recently Disney’s Chief Operating Officer, having earlier served for five years as Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide and for nearly 12 years as Disney’s Chief Financial Officer. During his time at Disney, Tom helped shape Disney’s strategic, financial, operational, creative and brand management strategies across every segment of the company and spearheaded many of Disney’s most important initiatives including the acquisitions of Cap Cities/ABC, Pixar and Marvel.

While chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, he was deeply involved in the design, development and construction of the 1000-acre Shanghai Disney Resort; supervised the expansion of the flagship Disneyland Resort in Anaheim; oversaw the construction and launch of two new Disney cruise ships; developed and opened Disney’s Aulani Resort and Spa in Hawaii; guided the development and implementation of My Magic+, the ground-breaking resort-wide guest service technology platform at Walt Disney World; and spearheaded the development and construction of a new themed land based on the hit film Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park.

He is co-ceo and director for FRX II, which is a special purpose acquisition company issued in spring of 2021 that is currently seeking a merger partner. Tom also serves on the board of directors of music streaming service Spotify.

Tom holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He and his wife Melanie have three sons and live in Los Angeles.