James Altucher
Born 1968 · Age 57
American hedge-fund manager, entrepreneur, author, podcaster and investor; founded or co-founded 20+ companies, author of 20+ books, podcaster and investor in tech, crypto and AI.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in New York City
James Altucher was born in New York City into a Jewish family.
Raised in North Brunswick, New Jersey
Grew up in a middle-class family in North Brunswick, NJ (family background influenced entrepreneurial mindset).
Graduated North Brunswick Township High School
Completed high school in North Brunswick, NJ.
Won Southern Section NJ High School Chess Championship
Placed first in the Southern Section of the New Jersey High School Individual Championship (Chess).
Co-founded CollegeCard (Cornell sophomore project)
As a Cornell sophomore he and partners launched 'CollegeCard' — an early student debit/charge card project (approx. mid-late 1980s).
Joined HBO IT department (first post-college job)
First job after graduation: worked in HBO's IT department; helped create internal web presence for HBO.
Graduated Cornell University (B.A. Computer Science)
Earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Cornell University.
Hosted HBO.com web series 'III:am' (HBO)
Hosted a late-night web series for HBO.com called III:am while at HBO (dates during HBO tenure).
Founded Reset Inc. (web design firm for entertainment)
Launched Reset Inc., building websites for entertainment clients (HBO, Miramax, New Line, etc.).
Sold Reset Inc. for approx. $15M
Sold Reset Inc. and received roughly $15 million in proceeds; used proceeds to fund internet investments.
Lost most of $15M within ~2 years
Altucher has said he began the post-Reset period with $15M and lost nearly all of it within two years through investments and trading mistakes (personal low point).
Hired by Jim Cramer to write about stocks (TheStreet.com)
Jim Cramer of TheStreet.com hired Altucher to write about stocks during/after his financial recovery period.
Began trading for several hedge funds
Started trading for multiple hedge funds (began in 2002; traded through 2005).
Published 'Trade Like a Hedge Fund'
Authored Trade Like a Hedge Fund (book based on many of his investing ideas and strategies).
Started running a fund of hedge funds
From 2004 to 2006 Altucher ran a fund of hedge funds (managed multiple strategies and funds).
Founded StockPickr (financial social network)
Launched StockPickr, a social investing website allowing users to share and track stock picks.
StockPickr named one of Time's 50 Best Websites
Time Magazine included StockPickr in its '50 Best Websites' list for 2007.
Sold StockPickr to TheStreet.com for ~$10M
Exited StockPickr via sale to TheStreet.com for about $10 million.
Published 'The Forever Portfolio'
Authored The Forever Portfolio (investment book), continuing his publishing track in finance.
Toured back to Cornell to give 'How to Make a Trillion Dollars' talk
Returned to Cornell and presented a talk at Sage Hall covering lessons and entrepreneurial insights.
Launched 'The Altucher Confidential' blog
Started an influential personal blog (The Altucher Confidential) that attracted millions of readers with candid business and life writing.
Published multiple books (2011 releases)
Released several titles in 2011 including 'I Was Blind But Now I See' and 'The Wall Street Journal Guide to Investing in the Apocalypse'.
Buddy Media sold to Salesforce for $745M (Altucher was a seed investor)
Buddy Media (a company Altucher seeded) exited via sale to Salesforce for $745 million; Altucher's exact stake and proceeds not publicly disclosed.
Reached National Chess Master rating (Elo 2204)
Recorded an Elo rating of 2204 as of 2012 (National Chess Master status).
Published 'Choose Yourself' (Wall Street Journal bestseller)
Released Choose Yourself in 2013; the book became a best-seller and launched his self-help/media persona.
Publicly criticized Bitcoin (earlier stance)
In 2013 Altucher publicly called Bitcoin 'a fad, or a scam, or a ponzi scheme, or worse' — later reversed course and became a crypto adviser/investor.
Built a Bitcoin-only store to sell 'Choose Yourself'
In May 2013 he created an online store to sell Choose Yourself accepting Bitcoin — an early crypto storefront experiment.
Published 'The Power of No' (co-authored)
Released The Power of No (2014), a self-help book co-authored with Claudia Azula Altucher.
Launched 'Ask Altucher' podcast
Launched the Ask Altucher podcast (first episode 2014-04-21); probe/answer format; ran 369 episodes through 2015.
Choose Yourself named on USA Today's list of best business books
Choose Yourself appeared on USA Today's '12 best business books of all time' list (2014 media recognition).
Published several books (2015 titles)
Released multiple titles in 2015 including The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth and The Power of ASK.
Launched 'Question of the Day' podcast with Stephen Dubner
Started the Question of the Day podcast with Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner (based on Quora questions).
Ended 'Ask Altucher' podcast run
Ask Altucher podcast ran from April 21, 2014 to October 8, 2015 (369 episodes total).
Published 'My Daddy Owns All of Outer Space'
Released the book 'My Daddy Owns All of Outer Space' (2016).
Published 'Reinvent Yourself'
Released Reinvent Yourself (2017), a book about career reinvention and personal growth.
Began advising on cryptocurrency investing
Shifted publicly toward advising/investing in crypto despite previous criticisms; began advising investors about crypto in 2017.
Published 'What To Do When You Are Rejected?'
Released 'What To Do When You Are Rejected?' (2018) — another of his self-help titles.
The James Altucher Show: grew substantial downloads and high-profile guests
Altucher's flagship podcast featured guests such as Tim Ferriss, Mark Cuban, and Arianna Huffington; he reports more than 40 million downloads (cumulative as reported).
Question of the Day podcast reunion with Stephen Dubner
Question of the Day had a reunion episode in 2020 (reuniting Altucher and Dubner).
Published LinkedIn piece 'New York Is Dead Forever. Here's Why.'
Posted a controversial long-form essay on LinkedIn arguing New York City would not recover from COVID-era changes.
Jerry Seinfeld publicly criticized Altucher's LinkedIn piece
In response to the 'New York Is Dead Forever' piece, Jerry Seinfeld called Altucher 'some putz' and told him to 'shut up' in public comments.
Published 'Skip the Line: The 10,000 Experiments Rule'
Released Skip the Line (2021), offering techniques to accelerate mastery and career progress.
Interview: Millennial Investing podcast (MI030)
Appeared on The Investor’s Podcast Network (Millennial Investing) to discuss entrepreneurship and investing (episode published March 4, 2020 audio; continued interviews through 2022).
Ask Altucher podcast became temporarily unavailable
Ask Altucher (archived) became 'temporarily unavailable' sometime in May 2024 (platform availability change).
Public profile and net-worth estimates
Various public sources estimate Altucher's net worth in the mid-to-high tens of millions (estimates vary widely: $20M–$50M from different outlets in 2024–2025).
Continued publishing, podcasting and advising on AI & crypto
Altucher continues to publish books, host The James Altucher Show, advise/invest in startups (crypto, AI) and speak at events; his site claims long AI involvement and Deep Blue work (claims).
Lives as co-owner and performer at Stand Up NY (ongoing)
Co-owner of Stand Up NY comedy club and performs stand-up comedy; club ownership/performance ongoing across 2010s–2020s.
Has founded/co-founded over 20 companies and authored 20+ books (cumulative)
Cumulative career milestone: over 20 companies founded/co-founded and 20+ books published; contributor to Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Huffington Post.
Advisor/investor in 30+ companies (ongoing)
Altucher states he actively invests in or advises 30+ companies across tech, energy, healthcare, biotech and crypto (public statements/interviews).
Key Achievement Ages
Explore what James Altucher and others achieved at these notable ages:
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