[1][2] Smith began his career at the Department of State in 1991, working in the U.S. Embassy at Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, under Ambassador Edward Brynn.

[4] Smith then joined The Economist as the head of corporate strategy, working from London, Hong Kong and New York City.

[8] Smith was later promoted to president of Atlantic Media Company, which gave him responsibility over National Journal and Government Executive.

[11] In 2012, while leading Atlantic Media, Smith founded a new global business news brand, Quartz.

[7] Smith is also the founder of Breaking Media, a collection of specialized websites that includes Above the Law, Dealbreaker and Fashionista.

[15] In April 2014, Smith hired veteran journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, who wrote Game Change and Double Down: Game Change 2012 on the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections respectively, to create a new Bloomberg website focused on American politics and policy.

[16] In January 2022, he stepped down as CEO to found Semafor with former New York Times journalist Ben Smith.