Gianluca Vacchi is an Italian entrepreneur, social media personality, DJ, and author best known for building a multibillion-dollar industrial empire and later reinventing himself as a global lifestyle icon with over 47 million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok.
He spent three decades as a major shareholder in IMA, the family packaging machinery giant, before selling his stake in January 2024 for over 700 million euros and pivoting into luxury real estate, music, and content creation.
Who is Gianluca Vacchi?
Gianluca Vacchi is an Italian businessman, DJ, author, and social media star who built his fortune through decades of industrial investment before becoming one of the most followed men in Europe online.
His Instagram feed, filled with dance videos, fitness routines, and glimpses of a lavish lifestyle, turned him into an international personality in his late forties.
He goes by the hashtag #GVLifestyle, which he launched in 2014 and which now defines a personal brand spanning music, fashion, real estate, and family content.
Beyond social media, Vacchi has led 14 companies across various sectors over his career.
He took four of them public and exited IMA, the family’s flagship company, in one of Italy’s most-discussed business deals of recent years.
He is also a father, a DJ with label credits, a published author, and a real estate developer with a $4 billion portfolio in progress in Miami.
Early Life of Gianluca Vacchi
Gianluca Vacchi was born on August 5, 1967, in Bologna, Italy, into one of the country’s most prominent industrial families.
His father, Marco Vacchi, served as president of the Bank of Bologna and later joined the Board of Directors of IMA Group, the packaging machinery company that would define much of Gianluca’s career.
As a child, Vacchi spent his winters in Cortina d’Ampezzo and became a competitive skier from the age of four.
By sixteen, he had won the Italian giant slalom championships, placed first at the Youth Games, and finished seventh at the School World Championships, establishing himself as one of Italy’s top junior skiers.
At seventeen, he chose business over sport and returned to Bologna.
He left the ski circuit and re-focused on his studies, setting his sights on the business world his father inhabited. That decision redirected his competitive energy from the slopes into the boardroom.
His grandmother introduced him to the piano at the age of seven, giving him an early connection to music that would resurface much later in his career as a DJ.
Gianluca Age / Birthday
Gianluca Vacchi is 59 years old as of 2026, born on August 5, 1967. His zodiac sign is Leo, a sign traditionally linked with confidence, boldness, and a flair for the dramatic, all qualities that have defined his public persona across business and social media.
At 59, he remains deeply active across real estate development, DJ performances, and content creation.
Gianluca Ethnicity and Nationality
Gianluca Vacchi is Italian, born and raised in Bologna, and holds Italian nationality. His family background is rooted in the Italian industrial tradition, with the Vacchi name tied to one of the country’s most successful manufacturing companies.
His mother’s ancestry traces to Argentina, adding a cross-cultural dimension to his background.
Gianluca Vacchi Education
Gianluca Vacchi completed his secondary education in Bologna after returning from his competitive skiing years.
He then enrolled at the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, one of the oldest universities in the world, where he graduated with a degree in Economics and Business.
That degree gave him the formal foundation to enter the world of investment and corporate management.
His academic preparation proved essential. Within a few years of graduating, he had already initiated financial transactions and identified IMA as the vehicle through which he would build his fortune.
Gianluca Vacchi Career
Gianluca Vacchi’s career has unfolded across three distinct chapters: industrial business, social media and music, and now real estate development. Each phase built on the discipline and capital he accumulated in the previous one.
His story is unusual in that his public fame came after his greatest financial achievement, not before it.
IMA and the Industrial Years (1992-2024)
After graduating, Vacchi began making early financial transactions at the age of 22, identifying IMA, a then-modest packaging machinery company where his family held a majority stake, as the growth opportunity of his generation.
At 25, he acquired 30% of the company and took on a management role. In the space of four years, he helped grow the company’s value from 70 billion to over 400 billion lire.
At 29, he stepped back from his management role to pursue new investment opportunities. He became a non-executive director of IMA and focused his energy on building a broader portfolio across multiple sectors.
Over the following years, Vacchi led companies across 12 different industries. He became President of SEA Societa Europea Autocaravan and invested in sectors including technology, caravans, and travel.
He invested in Eurotech, a miniaturized computing company, and served as sole director of First Investments SpA, a mergers and acquisitions firm.
In January 2024, Vacchi sold his 13.2% stake in IMA for over 700 million euros, paid in two tranches. The company, at the time of the sale, carried a valuation of approximately 7 billion euros.
He described leaving IMA after 30 years as a significant personal milestone, not a lack of confidence in the company’s future.
ToyWatch, Last Minute Tour, and Diversified Ventures
Away from IMA, Vacchi founded and grew several consumer businesses. In 2006, he launched ToyWatch, a designer watch brand that achieved rapid growth in its first year before he sold it.
He also founded Last Minute Tour, a travel and tourism company, which he similarly sold after building it to a solid operating scale.
Both ventures demonstrated his pattern of identifying growth opportunities, building them quickly, and exiting at the right moment.
He also worked with Beluga vodka and took on various other commercial partnerships over the years, using his business network and capital to generate returns across categories well outside industrial manufacturing.
Social Media, Music, and DJ Career (2013-Present)
In 2013, at the age of 46, Vacchi opened an Instagram account and began sharing his lifestyle publicly, initially as a personal experiment.
A video of him dancing with then-girlfriend Giorgia Gabriele went viral and turned him into an overnight sensation.
By 2016, he had published a book titled #Enjoy and launched a DJ career backed by a record contract with Spinnin’ Records, one of the leading dance music labels in the world.
He released the singles Viento and Trump-It in 2017, followed by Love in 2018 alongside Colombian singer Sebastian Yatra.
His appearance in the music video for Mi Gente by J Balvin and Willy William broadened his global reach significantly.
He performed at events including Tomorrowland, Amnesia Ibiza, and Wynn Las Vegas, establishing himself as a working DJ rather than a celebrity novelty act.
In 2024, he launched his own record label, Mundo Paralelo, focused on Latin, tech house, and Afro-house sounds.
In January 2025, he released Amen through Warner Music Central Europe, his most significant distribution partnership to date. During 2026, he continued performing in Miami and internationally.
In 2022, Amazon Prime Video released the documentary Gianluca Vacchi: Mucho Mas across more than 240 territories, offering a closer look at his personal life, family, and the story behind his public persona.
Gianluca Vacchi Companies and Investments
Vacchi has operated and invested across a wide range of sectors throughout his career. His major holdings and ventures include the following:
- IMA Group (30% stake, sold January 2024 for over 700 million euros)
- ToyWatch (founded 2006, sold after first-year growth)
- Last Minute Tour (founded and sold)
- SEA Societa Europea Autocaravan (President)
- First Investments SpA (sole director)
- GV Development Group (Miami-based real estate division of Cofiva Holding)
- Sunset Padel, Miami Beach (launched 2024 with partners Chris Paciello and Rafi Gibly)
- Mundo Paralelo Records (record label, launched 2024)
Gianluca Vacchi Business Achievements
Vacchi helped grow IMA Group from a value of roughly 70 billion lire to over 400 billion lire during his active management years.
Over his full tenure as shareholder, the company grew to a valuation of approximately 7 billion euros by the time of his exit.
He led 14 companies across 12 different sectors over his career and took four of them public.
In 2024, he partnered with developer Michael Stern through a joint venture between GV Development Group and JDS Development Group.
That partnership now oversees over $4 billion in planned luxury condo development in Miami, including Mercedes-Benz Places Miami and the 888 Brickell Dolce & Gabbana Residences and Hotel.
Gianluca Vacchi Philanthropy
After their daughter Blu Jerusalema was born with a cleft palate in October 2020, Vacchi and partner Sharon Fonseca used their social media platforms to raise awareness and funds for Operation Smile, the nonprofit organization that provides surgical care for children who cannot afford cleft palate repair.
Their public advocacy helped bring international attention to the organization’s work. Blu underwent a corrective surgery in April 2021, which concluded successfully.
Gianluca Vacchi Partner
Gianluca Vacchi and Venezuelan model and actress Sharon Fonseca have been together since early 2018, when they met during the filming of his music video Trump-It.
Fonseca, a fashion designer and social media personality, is 28 years younger than Vacchi. The two are not yet married as of August 2026.
In an April 2026 interview, Vacchi said he is not opposed to marriage but prefers to focus on his family as it stands.
He also left open the possibility of having a second child. They share their life between Italy and the United States.
Gianluca Vacchi Children
Gianluca Vacchi and Sharon Fonseca welcomed their daughter, Blu Jerusalema Vacchi, on October 28, 2020. Shortly after her birth, the couple publicly shared that she was born with a cleft palate.
Blu underwent corrective surgery in April 2021 at around five months old, and the procedure was successful.
The couple documented the experience on social media and used the platform to raise funds for Operation Smile.
Vacchi has spoken frequently about fatherhood, describing his family as the central focus of his life at this stage of his career.
Gianluca Vacchi Net Worth
Gianluca Vacchi’s estimated net worth is $500 million as of 2026. The vast majority of his wealth came from his long-term shareholding in IMA Group, where his 13.2% stake sold in January 2024 for over 700 million euros, paid across two tranches.
His dividend income from IMA over the years also contributed substantially to his fortune, with annual payouts reported to have reached tens of millions of dollars at their peak.
Beyond the IMA exit, his wealth now extends into luxury real estate, through GV Development Group’s $4 billion pipeline of Miami condo projects in partnership with JDS Development Group.
His music career under Spinnin’ Records and later his own Mundo Paralelo label, combined with DJ performances at major venues and festivals, adds further income.
His 2015 purchase of a Miami penthouse for $7.5 million, which he later sold in August 2022 for $7.7 million, reflected his early property investment approach. He also purchased a $24.5 million Miami Beach mansion in 2020.
Brand partnerships and his massive social media reach, with over 47 million combined followers, generate sponsorship and endorsement revenue as well.
Gianluca Vacchi Social Media
Vacchi is one of the most followed Italian personalities online. He maintains active accounts on Instagram as @gianlucavacchi and on TikTok as @gianlucavacchi, where he shares dance videos, fitness content, family moments, and business updates.
He first posted on Instagram in May 2013. Since then, his account has grown to over 22 million followers on that platform alone.
His combined following across Instagram and TikTok exceeds 47 million people, making him one of the largest individual content creators in Europe by audience size.
Conclusion
Gianluca Vacchi built and exited a multi-hundred-million-euro industrial stake before most people knew his name, then rebuilt a second career as a DJ, author, and social media personality with a global following in the tens of millions.
His $4 billion real estate partnership in Miami and his 2025 Warner Music release show that, at 59, he continues to open new chapters across business, music, and family life.