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 Resy is an American online restaurant-reservation service company founded in 2014 by Gary Vaynerchuk, Ben Leventhal, and Michael Montero. The app serves over 4,000 restaurants in over 200 cities with reservations predominantly in New York, Los ...

and Empathy Wines. First known as a

wine critic Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ma ...

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 duri ...

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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(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 R ...

), 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 territorie ...

in 1978 at the age of three. He is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

descent. Growing up, Vaynerchuk lived in New York City's Queens borough and later moved to Edison, New Jersey. At age 14, he joined his family's retail-wine business. After his family moved, he graduated from North Hunterdon High School. In 1998, Vaynerchuk graduated with a bachelor's degree in management science from Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.

Career

Vaynerchuk co-founded restaurant-reservation app

, which was acquired by

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

in 2019. He is also a co-founder of winery Empathy Wines, which was acquired by Constellation Brands in 2020. Vaynerchuk is the creator and founder behind the VeeFriends non-fungible token 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 A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

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 The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

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 social media–focused digital agency. The company provides social media and strategy services to

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

companies. In 2015, VaynerMedia was named one of Ad Age's A-List agencies. With 600 employees in 2016, VaynerMedia grossed $100 million in revenue. The company also partnered with Vimeo 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, 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 ''Planet of the Apps'' is an American reality television show broadcast on Apple Music (predating the 2019 launch of Apple TV+). It was the first original television show produced by Apple. On July 23, 2018, it was announced that Apple had cancel ...

'', a reality television series, with will.i.am and

Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (; born ) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Paltrow gained notice for her early work in films ...

. 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 Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

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 in which he responds to questions from Twitter and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. The questions are mostly on entrepreneurship, 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. However, critics have called him a

snake oil salesman Snake oil is a term used to describe deceptive marketing, health care fraud, or a scam. Similarly, "snake oil salesman" is a common expression used to describe someone who sells, promotes, or is a general proponent of some valueless or fraudu ...

. 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