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Michael Figge
Michael Figge is an American creative director and technology executive who serves as the chief executive officer of Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token (NFT) collection.[1] In 2026 he became Yuga Labs' CEO, with the development of its Otherside platform identified as a key focus.[3]
Education
Figge earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.[1]
Career
Possible
In September 2010, Figge co-founded Possible, a creative design practice, where he served as co-founder and creative director until November 2022.[1]
At Possible, Figge designed more than 200 arena
- and stadium-sized shows, working on productions including the VMAs, the Billboard Music Awards, Coachella, and the Super Bowl halftime show.[2] The practice developed live visual identities for artists including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Childish Gambino, Paul McCartney, and Lady Gaga.[1][2] Beyond music tours, Possible worked on the Democratic National Convention and eSports productions with Riot Games, and held entertainment-client credits for the MTV VMAs, the MTV Movie & TV Awards, the Emmys, the Country Music Awards, and the Billboard Music Awards.[1]
In 2021, Figge worked on a partnership between Riot Games and Louis Vuitton that combined eSports and luxury fashion, and he has said he became the lead creative for Louis Vuitton's first mobile game, "Louis The Game."[2]
WENEW
In February 2021, Figge co-founded WENEW, a web3 studio, and served as its CEO.[1] WENEW's early work included NFT drops tied to live sport: according to posts attributed to Figge, a WENEW release built around Wimbledon sold out its retail portion in five minutes, with a one-of-one edition acquired by the NFT collector Pranksy, and the campaign featured the tennis player Andy Murray wearing WENEW branding at Wimbledon alongside a one-of-one auction whose prize was a match of tennis with Murray.[1]
WENEW was acquired by Yuga Labs in November 2022, a deal described as merging leading web3 talent.[1][2] The acquisition brought Figge into Yuga Labs.
Yuga Labs
Following the WENEW acquisition, Figge became chief creative officer at Yuga Labs in November 2022, a position he held until March 2026.[1] From May 2024 to March 2026 he concurrently served as chief product officer, and in March 2026 he became the company's chief executive officer, at which point co-founder Greg Solano moved from CEO to chairman of the board as part of a shift toward product-focused leadership with Otherside as a central initiative.[3] As chief creative officer he led creative development across Yuga's NFT projects, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Otherside, Cryptopunks, Meebits, 10KTF, and Moonbirds.[2]
During his tenure, Figge worked on brand collaborations that extended Yuga's collections into fashion. In a July 2023 post he described a partnership between Yuga Labs and Gucci in which participants in the "Gucci Grail" experience received either a limited-edition co-branded 10KTF Gucci wallet or a 10KTF Gucci duffle.[1] In public statements about Otherside, he has described the project as a social platform for digital ownership in which players can own land and assets, explore shared worlds, and build their own experiences.[3]
TwelveFold
In 2023, Figge created the art for TwelveFold, which he describes as one of the earliest collections built on Bitcoin ordinals — a method of inscribing data such as images directly onto individual satoshis, the smallest units of bitcoin. He has stated that TwelveFold remains one of the largest primary sales of ordinals on Bitcoin.[2] During a 24-hour auction on March 6, 2023, Yuga Labs sold 288 TwelveFold pieces for 735 BTC, reported as approximately $16.5 million, with a top bid of 7.1159 BTC (about $159,611) for TwelveFold #1.[7] In 2024 the collection expanded into the physical realm through an initiative allowing TwelveFold holders to claim large signed and framed prints of their works up to a June 15, 2024 deadline, and Figge has suggested that additional plans for the collection may follow despite its framing as a self-contained art project.[7]
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