Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Vaynerchuk; November 14, 1975; , ), commonly known as Gary Vee, is a Soviet-born American entrepreneur, author, speaker, and Internet personality. He is a co-founder of the restaurant reservation software company Resy and Empathy Wines. First known as a

wine critic Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

who expanded his family's wine business, Vaynerchuk is now more known for his work in

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. Its development d ...

and

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

as the chairman of New York-based communications company VaynerX, and as CEO of VaynerX subsidiary VaynerMedia.

Early life

Vaynerchuk was born in

Babruysk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

(today part of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), and immigrated to New York City in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1978 at the age of three. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Growing up, Vaynerchuk lived in New York City's

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

borough and later moved to

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It ...

. At age 14, he joined his family's retail-wine business. After his family moved, he graduated from

North Hunterdon High School North Hunterdon High School is a four-year regional public high school serving students from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, as one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High Sch ...

. In 1998, Vaynerchuk graduated with a bachelor's degree in management science from

Mount Ida College Mount Ida College was a private college in Newton, Massachusetts. In 2018, the University of Massachusetts Amherst acquired the campus and renamed it the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst. History The Mount Ida School for Girls, once a high sc ...

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

Career

Vaynerchuk co-founded restaurant-reservation app Resy, which was acquired by American Express in 2019. He is also a co-founder of

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

Empathy Wines, which was acquired by

Constellation Brands Constellation Brands, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 percen ...

in 2020. Vaynerchuk is the creator and founder behind the VeeFriends

non-fungible token A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the b ...

series.

Wine Library

After graduating from college in 1998, Vaynerchuk took charge of his father's liquor store, Shopper's Discount Liquors. He renamed the store Wine Library, launched sales online, and in 2006 started Wine Library TV, a daily webcast on YouTube covering wine. He grew the business from $3 million a year to $60 million a year. In August 2011, Vaynerchuk stepped away from the wine business to build VaynerMedia, a digital ad agency.

VaynerX

Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a communications company that holds media properties and technology companies.

VaynerMedia

In 2009, Vaynerchuk, along with his brother AJ Vaynerchuk, founded VaynerMedia, a

–focused digital agency. The company provides social media and strategy services to Fortune 500 companies. In 2015, VaynerMedia was named one of

Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

's A-List agencies. With 600 employees in 2016, VaynerMedia grossed $100 million in revenue. The company also partnered with

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

to connect brands and filmmakers for digital content.

Gallery Media Group

In 2017, Vaynerchuk formed The Gallery, later renamed Gallery Media Group, a VaynerX subsidiary company that houses

PureWow PureWow is an American digital media company that publishes women's lifestyle content. Acquired by serial entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk in 2017 as part of Gallery Media Group, PureWow tailors lifestyle topics for Millennials and Generation X, in ...

, male-oriented news outlet ONE37pm.com, and other media properties.

Media

Planet of the Apps

In February 2017, Vaynerchuk was a participant of '' Planet of the Apps'', a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

series, with

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

and Gwyneth Paltrow. In the show, Vaynerchuk and the team evaluated pitches from app developers vying for investment.

YouTube shows and videos

Vaynerchuk hosted a video blog on YouTube called ''Wine Library TV'' (''WLTV'' or ''The Thunder Show'') from 2006 to 2011, featuring wine reviews, tastings, and wine advice. The show debuted in February 2006. At 1,000 episodes in 2011, Vaynerchuk retired the show and replaced it with a video podcast called ''The Daily Grape''. In 2010, Vaynerchuk launched ''Wine & Web'' on Sirius XM satellite radio. The show's programming paired new wine tastings in a "Wine of the Week" segment with coverage of gadgets, trends and startups in its "Web of the Week" segment. In 2014, Vaynerchuk launched ''The #AskGaryVee Show'' on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in which he responds to questions from Twitter and Instagram. The questions are mostly on

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, family and business topics. The show inspired Vaynerchuk's fourth book, ''AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness'' which reached ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. ''DailyVee'' is a daily, video-documentary series on YouTube hosted by Vaynerchuk. Started in 2015, he records interviews with other businessmen and broadcasts investor meetings and strategy sessions at VaynerMedia.

Reception

Vaynerchuk has earned a social-media following around

mentorship Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

. However, critics have called him a snake oil salesman. In 2015, Vaynerchuk was named to Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40. In 2017, Vaynerchuk was listed as one of Forbes' Top Social Influencers.

Works

* ''Gary Vaynerchuk's 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World'' (2008) * ''Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion'' (2009) * ''The Thank You Economy'' (2011) * ''Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook'' (2013) * ''#AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness Hardcover'' (2016) * ''Crushing It! How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence—and How You Can, Too'' (2018) * ''Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaynerchuk, Gary 1975 births 20th-century Belarusian Jews 21st-century Belarusian Jews Living people People from Edison, New Jersey Wine critics American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Revision3 American business executives American technology company founders American media personalities American podcasters American bloggers American Internet celebrities Technology evangelists American motivational writers American television personalities American investors North Hunterdon High School alumni 21st-century American non-fiction writers Mount Ida College alumni