Smith, 42, officially entered the sports ownership fraternity after the National Basketball Association approved his $1.6 billion purchase of the Jazz on Friday. The Qualtrics co-founder and CEO will assume final decision-making for business and basketball operations for the team.
The new ownership group also adds Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and Ryan Sweeney of venture capital firm Accel as minority partners.
In an interview with CNBC Pro's "A View from the Top," Smith said he doesn't plan to stay behind the scenes. Still, unlike other NBA owners, running the Jazz won't be his full-time job. Qualtrics is spinning off from SAP early next year, less than two years after the German software giant acquired the company. Smith says he expects it to be "a big company."