Self-Made Millionaire Gary Vaynerchuk: Growing Up Poor Made Me a Happy Person
Written by
Gabrielle Olya
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Molly Sullivan
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Gary Vaynerchuk has built up a net worth of $200 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, but he hasn’t always been a multimillionaire. The CEO of Vayner Media and co-founder of Resy and Empathy Wines grew up poor, but he doesn’t see that as a disadvantage.
Here’s why Vaynerchuk credits his rags-to-riches journey with his current happiness.
He Learned To Be Happy With Nothing
Vaynerchuk grew up in the former Soviet Union, and said he had a happy childhood despite growing up in poverty.
“My mom made it awesome,” he told Page Six. “I did not have all these pressures that gave me all this gray hair. I was a kid and I had the best mom of all time, and everything was rainbows, but we were poor as f—. The reason I am a happy person is because I know I was happy with nothing.”
He Knows Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness
Vaynerchuk doesn’t equate money with happiness. He was happy before he made his fortune, and also knows many wealthy people who are not happy.
“There are unlimited amounts of people that live in houses with no money and aren’t happy,” he told Page Six. “[There are] many kids [who] have nothing but money — and rich parents — but are deeply unhappy.”
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