Ricky Van Veen

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Ricky Van Veen
Headshot of Ricky Van Veen.jpg
Van Veen in 2018
Born
Richard Raphael Van Veen

(1980-12-14) December 14, 1980 (age 44)
Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland, U.S.
Education Wake Forest University (BS)
Occupation(s)Head of Global Creative Strategy at Facebook, Co-founder of CollegeHumor
Years active1999–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 2015;div. 2019)​
Caroline Kassie
​
(m. 2021)​

Richard Rafael Van Veen (born December 14, 1980) is an American entrepreneur and the Head of Global Creative Strategy at Facebook. [1] [2] [3] Van Veen co-founded Connected Ventures, the early tech startup that launched the comedy brand CollegeHumor and the video sharing website Vimeo. [4] He was also CEO of Notional, the television production company behind the popular series Chopped .

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland, Van Veen is the son of Helen and Richard Van Veen. [5] He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in management and information systems in 2003. [6]

Career

Van Veen created CollegeHumor as a student at Wake Forest University. [7] Van Veen's site was earning between $10 and $15 million a year before the partners sold a controlling stake to IAC/InterActiveCorp. [8] [9] He is also one of the principal owners and founders of Connected Ventures, a company formed around CollegeHumor that included Vimeo and BustedTees. [10]

He made appearances in several CollegeHumor video series, such as Jake and Amir and Hardly Working, and the former MTV program The CollegeHumor Show . [11]

In July 2009, Van Veen was announced as the CEO of the television production company, Notional. [12]

Van Veen also co-founded the product company Scroll Commerce in 2015, where he invented products designed to sell online. The company was later acquired by BuzzFeed as the foundation of its new Product Labs division. [13]

Personal life

Van Veen married actress Allison Williams in September 2015. [2] On June 27, 2019, Van Veen and Williams issued a joint statement announcing their divorce.[ citation needed ]

On July 11, 2021, Van Veen married Caroline Kassie.[ citation needed ]

References

  1. ↑ Samwel, Emanuela (November 27, 2024). "Ricky Van Veen: Age, Net Worth, Relationships & Biography". Mabumbe. Retrieved February 17, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Get the Details on Allison Williams and Ricky Van Veen's Wedding (Tom Hanks Officiated!)". People . September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015. Ricky Van Veen ... the 34-year-old College Humor co-founder...
  3. ↑ "Facebook hires CollegeHumor's Ricky Van Veen to make its giant video business even bigger". Recode . June 8, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  4. ↑ Kerry King (April 27, 2016). "Ricky Van Veen ('03): No Laughing Matter". Wake Forest Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  5. ↑ "news". Baltimore County, Maryland. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Cofounder of CollegeHumor is to speak". wfuogb.com. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ St. John, Warren (July 24, 2005). "Sophomorically Incorrect". The New York Times . Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  8. ↑ Gangemi, Jeffrey (September 12, 2006). "Buying Sites with a Built-in Audience". Business Week . Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Barry Diller Buys CollegeHumor". Gawker.com. August 15, 2006. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  10. ↑ Mead, Rebecca (January 25, 2005). "Funny Boys". The New Yorker . Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  11. ↑ "Ricky Van Veen's College Humor Page". CollegeHumor.com . Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  12. ↑ Ali, Rafat (July 25, 2009). "paidContent - CollegeHumor's New Production Spinoff: Notional; Van Veen's Heading It". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  13. ↑ "BuzzFeed Wants to Sell You Stuff". Fortune.
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