Gary Vaynerchuk (born Gennady Alexandrovich Vaynerchuk,[a][2] November 14, 1975; commonly known by his alias Gary Vee) is an American businessman, author, speaker, and internet personality.[3][4][5] He is a co-founder of the restaurant reservation software company Resy and Empathy Wines.[6][1][7] First known as a wine critic who expanded his family's wine business,[8][9] Vaynerchuk is now more known for his work in digital marketing and social media as the chairman of New York–based communications company VaynerX,[10] and as CEO of VaynerX subsidiary VaynerMedia.[11][12]
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.[22] He grew the business from $3 million a year to $60 million a year.[23] In August 2011, Vaynerchuk stepped away from the wine business to build VaynerMedia, a digital ad agency.[22][24]
VaynerX
Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a communications company that holds media properties and technology companies.[25][26][27]
VaynerMedia
In 2009, Vaynerchuk and his brother AJ Vaynerchuk founded VaynerMedia, a social media-focused digital agency.[28] The company provides social media and strategy services to Fortune 500 companies.[28][29] In 2015, VaynerMedia was named one of Ad Age's A-List agencies.[29] With 600 employees in 2016, VaynerMedia grossed $100 million in revenue.[30] The company also partnered with Vimeo to connect brands and filmmakers for digital content.[31]
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.[32][3][33]
VCR Group
Vaynerchuck founded a hospitality company called VCR Group with David Rodolitz, Josh Capon, and Conor Hanlon.[34] VCR group has started many restaurants in Las Vegas and New York including: Ito, FlyFish Club, Capons and Bar Ito.[35] They opened a restaurant called Little Maven in NYC in the fall of 2023. [36]
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.[40] At 1,000 episodes in 2011, Vaynerchuk retired the show and replaced it with a video podcast called The Daily Grape.[41]
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.[42]
In 2014, Vaynerchuk launched The #AskGaryVee Show on YouTube in which he responds to questions from Twitter and Instagram.[43] 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[44] which reached The New York Times Best Seller list.[45]
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.[10][46]
^Gary Vaynerchuk. Crush It:Why NOW Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion.
^Friend, Tad (June 7, 2010). "V-va-va-voom!". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved January 31, 2013. He thumped his heart. 'I was born in the Soviet Union, and we were poor when we came here' — to Edison, New Jersey — 'so it's incredible to me that that many people are interested.'
^O'Donnell, Chuck (February 20, 2018). "How Gary Vaynerchuk's childhood in Edison helps him crush it in business". Courier News. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018. The Vaynerchuks eventually relocated and Gary would graduate from North Hunterdon High School, but the Edison environment and his own immigrant's experience seem to have shaped Vaynerchuk to his core.
^Pattison, Kermit (September 16, 2008). "Selling Wine The Web 2.0 Way". Fast Company. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^Robinson, Jancis, Financial Times (November 15, 2008). "The online evangelist". Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 16, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2008.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Brion, Raphael (March 18, 2011). "Gary Vaynerchuk's Daily Grape". Eater magazine. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2017.