Meow Wolf (Santa Fe, NM) has named Matthew Henick as its new CEO, effective April 27, 2026. Henick is a media, technology, and digital content executive with no background in physical attractions or location-based entertainment operations. His appointment comes after a year-long search and at a critical moment for the company, which is preparing to open its Los Angeles exhibition late this year and a New York City location in late 2027.
Henick’s most recent role was Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at The Trade Desk, a digital advertising technology company, where he oversaw the development of Ventura TV OS and OpenPass, products aimed at reshaping streaming content distribution. Before that, he was CEO of Deep Voodoo, the creative AI and visual effects studio founded by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Deep Voodoo raised $20 million in 2022 and is known for its deepfake technology, most notably used in Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 5” music video. He previously led Metaverse Development at Epic Games, driving strategy for Fortnite’s immersive digital world and partnerships with LEGO Group and WPP. Earlier career stops include VP of Content Strategy and Product Marketing at Meta/Facebook and Head of BuzzFeed Studio.
The common thread across Henick’s career is digital content platforms, audience scaling, and media distribution.
Entirely New Ways
“My job is to make sure millions more people get to feel that, whether they walk through our portals or encounter Meow Wolf in entirely new ways,” Henick said in the press release.
In a LinkedIn post announcing the hire, Henick was more direct: “Five locations open. LA this year. NYC after that. Film, TV, games…all built outward from the physical experience, not the other way around.” The post framed the physical exhibitions as a starting point for media expansion across other formats, not as the end product.
Board Chair Christopher Sobecki reinforced this in his statement, noting that Meow Wolf is “expanding both its geographic footprint as well as its new media presence beyond the four walls.” The phrase “beyond the four walls” appeared repeatedly in board communications about the hire.
Taken together with Henick’s background in streaming platforms, AI-generated content, metaverse strategy, and digital media distribution, the hire suggests Meow Wolf’s board sees the company’s next chapter as extending its storytelling and IP beyond physical exhibitions into an omnichannel approach. The classic theme park model has been building physical spaces around beloved IP, but a growing number of companies are exploring the reverse, creating original IP through physical experiences and extending it outward into other media.
Chief Vision Officer and co-founder Vince Kadlubek told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Henick’s “experience within the technology and entertainment fields is perfectly aligned with the goals Meow Wolf is moving toward.” A recent Fast Company profile of Kadlubek used the phrase “transformation economy” to describe Meow Wolf’s evolving philosophy, positioning the company’s exhibitions as experiences that produce lasting personal change rather than passive entertainment.
Context: A Company in Transition
Henick inherits a company that has been through significant turbulence. His predecessor, Jose Tolosa, resigned in April 2025 after two rounds of layoffs in 2024 that cut more than 200 workers. An employee petition calling for Tolosa’s resignation gathered hundreds of signatures, citing financial mismanagement and deteriorating morale.
Board member Rebecca Campbell, a 26-year Disney veteran who previously served as chair of international content and operations and president of Disneyland Resort, stepped in as interim CEO in May 2025 and led the company through the search process. Sobecki credited Campbell with protecting the integrity of the search and keeping the organization focused. She will continue to serve on the board.
Meow Wolf currently operates five permanent exhibitions: House of Eternal Return (Santa Fe, 2016), Omega Mart (Las Vegas, 2021), Convergence Station (Denver, 2021), The Real Unreal (Grapevine, TX, 2023), and Radio Tave (Houston, 2024). The company has welcomed more than 13 million visitors across all locations.
What’s Ahead
The Los Angeles exhibition, described as Meow Wolf’s “largest and most ambitious yet,” is set to open late 2026 in a former movie theater. A New York City exhibition is planned for late 2027.
Henick holds an MFA from USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program, a bachelor’s degree in Science, Technology and Society from Stanford, and a master’s in Digital Media Studies, also from Stanford. He co-founded MobileSmarts in 2000, one of the earliest ringtone companies in the United States.
He starts April 27, 2026.
