Gary Vaynerchuk
Born 1975 · Age 50
American entrepreneur, investor, author, speaker and internet personality; grew his family's wine business, founded VaynerMedia and VaynerX, co-founded Resy and Empathy Wines, created VeeFriends NFT project and hosts multiple media properties.
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Life & Career Timeline
Immigrated to the United States
Gary and his family immigrate from Babruysk, Byelorussian SSR (present-day Belarus) to New York City under a refugee resettlement program.
Started lemonade franchise
Gary ran multiple lemonade stands as a child (he later described operating seven or eight stands), an early sign of entrepreneurial drive.
Baseball card business
Built and ran a sizable baseball card buying/selling operation in his early teens, reportedly earning thousands per weekend.
Started working in family liquor store
Began working (bagging ice and stocking shelves) at his father's store, Shopper's Discount Liquors, for about $2/hr.
Renamed store to Wine Library & launched e-commerce
He and his father rebranded Shopper's Discount Liquors as Wine Library and launched winelibrary.com — among the first online alcohol e-commerce platforms in the U.S.
Took charge of Wine Library operations
After college he took operational control of his father's liquor store, implementing online sales and modern marketing.
Graduated Mount Ida College
Earned a bachelor's degree (management science / communications reported) from Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.
Early revenue milestone for Wine Library
Under Gary's leadership Wine Library grew from low-single-digit-million annual sales (reported $3M–$4M) toward much larger revenues.
Married Lizzie Vaynerchuk
Gary married Lizzie (reported marriage year 2004); family life noted as an important personal priority.
Appearances on national TV
WLTV success led to appearances on national shows including Conan O'Brien and The Ellen DeGeneres Show (approx. during WLTV period).
Launched WineLibraryTV (WLTV)
Started WineLibraryTV, a long-form, episodic video show on YouTube reviewing wines — produced nearly daily and became a core driver of his public profile.
Published '101 Wines' (wine book)
Released 101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World (publication commonly cited as 2008).
Keynote at Web 2.0 NYC
Delivered a keynote speech at Web 2.0 conference in New York City that raised his profile and directly led to a major publishing deal.
Signed $1M, 10-book deal with HarperCollins
The Web 2.0 keynote formed the backbone for a reported $1,000,000 deal to write up to ten books with HarperCollins.
Birth of first child (reported)
Gary referenced having a child around 2009 in interviews (family privacy maintained); has two children, Misha and Xander.
Published 'Crush It!' (first business bestseller)
Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion published (becoming a New York Times bestseller and raising Gary's profile as a business author).
Co-founded VaynerMedia with brother AJ
Launched VaynerMedia, a social-media-focused digital advertising agency; started in a Buddy Media conference room with no outside funding.
Began angel investing in startups
Started angel investments in tech startups — reported early investments include Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Uber, Snap and Venmo (timing across the 2000s/2010s).
Launched 'Wine & Web' on Sirius XM
Debuted Wine & Web radio show on Sirius XM blending wine tastings with tech/startup coverage.
Stepped away from family wine business
Formally stepped away from the Wine Library retail business to focus fully on his agency and media ventures.
Published 'The Thank You Economy'
Released The Thank You Economy, further establishing his marketing philosophy around customer care and social media.
Reported early stake in Buddy Media relationship
Buddy Media allowed VaynerMedia to start in its conference room; Gary was given a relationship/equity arrangement in early days (reported in interviews).
Reported to have left Wine Library with no equity
Public accounts state Gary left the family business after growing it significantly and did not take ownership/equity when he exited.
Founded/expanded VaynerX holding structure (approx.)
Over time Gary organized his various businesses under VaynerX (communications holding company) — formation and formal structuring occurred during the 2010s.
Ended WineLibraryTV after ~1,000 episodes
After producing nearly daily episodes for five years and reaching ~1,000 episodes, he retired WLTV to focus on VaynerMedia.
Published 'Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook'
Released another best-selling book focused on social media content strategy and platform-specific storytelling.
Co-founded Resy (restaurant reservation app)
Co-founded Resy with Ben Leventhal and Mike Montero to provide premium restaurant reservations and seat management software.
Started large-scale public speaking career
Following book success and Web 2.0 keynote, Gary became a high-demand keynote speaker across conferences worldwide.
Reached multi-million follower reach across social platforms
By mid-2010s Gary had accumulated millions of followers across platforms (Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter), becoming a top social influencer.
Launched #AskGaryVee Show on YouTube
Started the #AskGaryVee Q&A show (YouTube & podcast) to answer entrepreneurship and social media questions from his community.
VaynerMedia named to Ad Age A-List
VaynerMedia included in Ad Age's 2015 Agency A-List; the agency continued to win major enterprise clients.
Launched DailyVee vlog
Started DailyVee, a video-documentary vlog chronicling his daily life as a CEO, investor and speaker.
Named to Crain's 40 Under 40
Recognized on Crain's New York Business 40 Under 40 list for entrepreneurial achievement.
Published '#AskGaryVee' book
Released #AskGaryVee: One Entrepreneur's Take on Leadership, Social Media, and Self-Awareness, which reached the NYT Best Seller list.
VaynerMedia hits ~$100M revenue & ~600 employees
By 2016 the agency reportedly had about 600 employees and grossed roughly $100 million in revenue.
Acquired PureWow; formed Gallery Media Group
VaynerMedia/VaynerX acquired women's lifestyle publisher PureWow and organized publishing under Gallery Media Group (later part of VaynerX).
Listed among Forbes' Top Social Influencers
Forbes named Gary one of the top social influencers in (food/tech/business categories reported).
Participated on 'Planet of the Apps' reality show
Appeared as a mentor/judge on Apple's Planet of the Apps with other celebrities, evaluating app pitches.
First GaryVee sneakers announced with K-Swiss
Announced collaboration with K-Swiss and released GaryVee 001 and 002 sneakers in November 2017.
Launched ONE37pm (ONE37 brand)
Gallery Media Group launched men's lifestyle brand ONE37pm as a second media brand under the group.
Published 'Crushing It!'
Released Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence—and How You Can, Too (another bestseller building on Crush It!).
Released GaryVee 003 sneakers
Third sneaker in the K‑Swiss collaboration released July 2018.
VaynerMedia reported >800 employees (approx.)
Company continued expansion; in some bios and interviews the company is described as having grown to over 800 employees within ~9 years of founding.
Co-founded Empathy Wines
Co-founded direct-to-consumer wine company Empathy Wines with Jon Troutman and Nate Scherotter (company launched publicly in 2019).
Public ambition to buy the New York Jets (personal goal)
Gary publicly stated a life ambition of buying the NFL's New York Jets — often referenced as a long-term personal/business ambition.
Resy acquired by American Express
Resy, the restaurant reservation platform Gary co-founded in 2014, was acquired by American Express in May 2019.
Released GaryVee 004 sneakers
Fourth sneaker in the K‑Swiss collaboration released June 2019.
#ALLInChallenge fundraiser and 12-hour TikTok livestream
Partnered with Michael Rubin and TikTok for a 12-hour livestream to raise money to feed families across the U.S. during COVID-19.
Empathy Wines acquired by Constellation Brands
Constellation Brands acquired Empathy Wines in July 2020; reported acquisition provided liquidity for founders (terms not fully disclosed publicly).
Christie's sale of VeeFriends artwork
Works/doodles related to VeeFriends sold at Christie's (reported $1.2M sale of certain doodles in Oct 2021), underscoring NFT project's cultural/monetary impact.
Launched VeeFriends NFT project (Series 1)
Released VeeFriends Series 1 NFT collection (10,255 NFTs across 268 hand-drawn characters); Series 1 tokens include VeeCon admission for multiple years.
Launched VeeFriends Book Games (Series) and VeeFriends Series 2
Announced Book Games in January 2022 and followed with VeeFriends Series 2 in April 2022 expanding the NFT ecosystem.
Held inaugural VeeCon (May 19–22, 2022)
Hosted the first VeeCon at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis — Web3 superconference where entry was by VeeFriends Series 1 NFT ticket holders.
Public net worth estimates ~USD160M (reported)
Third-party profile listings (aggregators) estimate Gary Vaynerchuk's net worth around $160M in 2024 (estimate varies across sources).
Published 'Day Trading Attention' and 'Meet Me in the Middle'
Released Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World and Meet Me in the Middle (both listed as 2024 books).
Continued expansion of VaynerX and media properties
VaynerX continues to house VaynerMedia, Gallery Media Group, Tracer, VaynerSpeakers, VaynerCommerce and other ventures; ongoing global content production.
Key Achievement Ages
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