Arya Toufanian
| Arya Toufanian | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 27, 1992 |
| 🏫 Education | George Washington University |
| 💼 Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| 👔 Employer | I'm Shmacked LLC. |
Arya Toufanian (born April 27th, 1992) is an American internet celebrity and entrepreneur. He is most notable for his viral college culture company I'm Shmacked which was valued at $5,000,000 as reported by Fox Business News. He was referenced in numerous local and mainstream media including The New York Times, USA Today,and Business Insider[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]. Toufanian is the grandson of Hassan Toufanian, an Iranian Air Force General and the Vice Minister of War under the Shah of Iran[9].
Early life[edit]
Arya Toufanian grew up in Potomac, Maryland, where he attended Winston Churchill High School[10]. Toufanian then began his studies at the George Washington University in Washington DC in 2010, where he later dropped out to pursue business interests including developing I'm Shmacked into a household college brand.
Career[edit]
Toufanian moved to New York City in 2012 and began touring the nation's colleges for I'm Shmacked. I'm Shmacked videos have garnered over 25,000,000 views on YouTube with over 100 years of content being watched. The videos have included notable celebrities as Steve Aoki, ASAP Rocky, Tiesto, Drake, Martin Garrix and many more. In 2013, Toufanian raised over $500,000 in a Series A round[11] to value his business, I'm Shmacked, at $5,000,000. In other I'm Shmacked related news, rumors on the Internet have been circulating pointing at a bidding war[12] between several major Hollywood production companies for their television and theatrical rights, Toufanian refused to comment stating, “We would like our privacy as we continue to scale I'm Shmacked.” According to Famous Birthdays[13], he is most notable for rising to fame creating raucous videos of college parties across the U.S.
Controversy[edit]
In January 2014, Arya Toufanian and two other company affiliates were charged with 3 felony counts for inciting a riot in Norfolk, VA at Old Dominion University. Officials held a 21 year old cameraman, an employee of I'm Shmacked, without bond for 8 days. Toufanian said his employees do not advocate or take part in rioting or vandalism and said the cameraman was acting as a journalist. In April 2014, all charges of conspiracy to incite a riot were dropped against Arya Toufanian, the cameraman and his assistant.
In July 2014, Gawker Media and its subsidiaries reported that Arya crudely threatened a reporter via Twitter. These articles were published by Gawker, Jezebel, and The Huffington Post On October 2016, Toufanian was added to a lawsuit filed by Peter Thiel alongside Hulk Hogan against Gawker Media resulting in their bankruptcy.[14] The articles against Toufanian still remain online to this day.
This article "Arya Toufanian" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Arya Toufanian.
- ↑ Smith, Pamela Engel, Allan. "I'M SHMACKED: Inside The Brand That Glorifies The Worst Parts Of College Partying". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ Otani, Akane. "Delaware students wreak havoc in 'I'm Shmacked' video". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ Conlin, Jennifer (2012-09-21). "Campus Life Gains More Exposure on the Web". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ Smith, Pamela Engel, Allan. "I'M SHMACKED: Inside The Brand That Glorifies The Worst Parts Of College Partying". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ "Learn about Arya Toufanian". Famous Birthdays. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ Harris, Dana (2014-03-21). "CHS alumnus directs video series about college life". The Observer. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ "Peter Thiel's Lawyer Isn't Stopping His War on Journalists". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ Bryant, Janie. "Charges of inciting a riot at ODU dropped against two". pilotonline.com. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ "List of monarchs of Persia". Wikipedia. 2020-01-01.
- ↑ Harris, Dana (2014-03-21). "CHS alumnus directs video series about college life". The Observer. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ↑ BroBible. "I'm Shmacked Values at $5 Mil, Drops SICK College Party Video Recapping Fall Semester Tour". BroBible. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
- ↑ "The I'm Shmacked Legendary Video Recap Of The Fall Semester Will Make You Miss College All Over Again". Elite Daily. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
- ↑ "Learn about Arya Toufanian". Famous Birthdays. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
- ↑ "Billionaire Who Helped Bankrupt Gawker Says He Would Do It Again". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
