In his role as executive chairman, "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company.

He attended the Lisgar Collegiate Institute and later graduated from Carleton University with a degree in English literature and political science.

[5] Before Vice, Smith went to university in Ottawa, played in local punk bands, and travelled around Eastern Europe before moving to Montreal.

[12][13] Richard Szalwinski, a Canadian software millionaire, acquired the magazine and relocated the operation to New York City in the late 1990s.

Under Szalwinski's ownership, a few retail stores were opened in New York City and customers could purchase fashion items that were advertised in the magazine.

[14][15][16] Initially publishing print articles based on offbeat alternative culture, VICE moved to creating news content and social criticism on multiple media platforms in 2006.

He also conducted the first public interview with the Eagles of Death Metal following the 2015 terrorist shooting at their show at the Bataclan in Paris that left 89 dead.

[24] On 9 December 2016, HBO broadcast "Vice Special Report: A House Divided", which explores the political dysfunction in the United States during the Obama presidency.