Background and career
Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk, November 14, 1975; commonly known by his alias Gary Vee) is an American businessman, 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 who expanded his family's wine business, Vaynerchuk is now more known for his work in digital marketing and social media as the chairman of New York–based communications company VaynerX, and as CEO of VaynerX subsidiary VaynerMedia.
Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk was born on November 14, 1975, in Babruysk in the Soviet Union (today part of Belarus), and arrived via the U.S. Refugee Resettlement to New York City in the United States in 1978 at the age of three. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Vaynerchuk was raised 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.
Vaynerchuk co-founded restaurant reservation app Resy, which was acquired by American Express 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 VeeFriends1 and VeeFriends2 non-fungible token series.
After graduating from college in 1998, Vaynerchuk assumed responsibility 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.
How Gary Vaynerchuk makes money
He grew the business from $3 million a year to $60 million a year. With 600 employees in 2016, VaynerMedia grossed $100 million in revenue.
