Founders← Previous revisionRevision as of 11:17, 28 October 2026 Line 44: Line 44: Two of the founders of BAYC, going by the pseudonyms "Gargamel" and "Gordon Goner", describe themselves as "literary bros". The two told ''[[The New Yorker]]'' they initially bonded by arguing about the work of [[David Foster Wallace]]. The two of them grew up together in [[Miami]]. The other two founders go by the pseudonyms "No Sass" and "Emperor Tomato Ketchup",{{cite magazine|last=Hissong|first=Samantha|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/|title=How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=November 1, 2021|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208140812/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/|url-status=live}} the latter deriving his alias from the 1996 [[Stereolab]] [[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|album of the same name]]. As of July 2023, three out of four founders have left the company.{{Cite web |title=@GordonGoner |url=https://twitter.com/GordonGoner/status/1619372809352007682 |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=@TomatoBAYC |url=https://twitter.com/TomatoBAYC/status/1651949259057504258 |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}} Two of the founders of BAYC, going by the pseudonyms "Gargamel" and "Gordon Goner", describe themselves as "literary bros". The two told ''[[The New Yorker]]'' they initially bonded by arguing about the work of [[David Foster Wallace]]. The two of them grew up together in [[Miami]]. The other two founders go by the pseudonyms "No Sass" and "Emperor Tomato Ketchup",{{cite magazine|last=Hissong|first=Samantha|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/|title=How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=November 1, 2021|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 8, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208140812/https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bayc-bored-ape-yacht-club-nft-interview-1250461/|url-status=live}} the latter deriving his alias from the 1996 [[Stereolab]] [[Emperor Tomato Ketchup (album)|album of the same name]]. As of July 2023, three out of four founders have left the company.{{Cite web |title=@GordonGoner |url=https://twitter.com/GordonGoner/status/1619372809352007682 |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=@TomatoBAYC |url=https://twitter.com/TomatoBAYC/status/1651949259057504258 |access-date=2023-07-15 |website=Twitter |language=en}} In February 2022, Gargamel and Gordon Goner's identities were revealed to be Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, respectively, by ''[[BuzzFeed News]]''.{{cite web|last=Roth|first=Emma|url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/5/22919612/bored-apes-yacht-club-florida-men-identities-revealed|title=Florida men revealed to be behind Bored Apes|work=[[The Verge]]|date=February 5, 2022|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209071200/https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/5/22919612/bored-apes-yacht-club-florida-men-identities-revealed|url-status=live}} Upon this revelation, Nicole Muniz, the then-CEO of Yuga Labs, confirmed ''BuzzFeed''{{'}}s report. Solano and Aronow went to [[Twitter]], commenting they were [[doxxed]] and uploaded images of themselves next to their Bored Ape profile pictures. Solano is a writer and editor, while No Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup are programmers. Aronow, the son of boat tycoon [[Donald Aronow]], has been documented as planning to attend an MFA program, before becoming addicted to [[crack cocaine]] and alcohol, falling ill and becoming a [[cryptocurrency]] [[day trading|day trader]].{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Jessica |title=Planet of the Bored Apes: Inside the NFT world's biggest success story |url=https://www.inputmag.com/features/bored-ape-yacht-club-greg-solano-wylie-aronow-profile |access-date=September 18, 2022 |work=Input |date=August 3, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163640/https://www.inputmag.com/features/bored-ape-yacht-club-greg-solano-wylie-aronow-profile |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine|last=Chayka|first=Kyle|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-bored-ape-avatars-are-taking-over-twitter|title=Why Bored Ape Avatars Are Taking Over Twitter|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=July 30, 2021|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121095330/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-bored-ape-avatars-are-taking-over-twitter|url-status=live}} In February 2022, Gargamel and Gordon Goner's identities were revealed to be Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow, respectively, by ''[[BuzzFeed News]]''.{{cite web|last=Roth|first=Emma|url=https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/5/22919612/bored-apes-yacht-club-florida-men-identities-revealed|title=Florida men revealed to be behind Bored Apes|work=[[The Verge]]|date=February 5, 2022|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209071200/https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/5/22919612/bored-apes-yacht-club-florida-men-identities-revealed|url-status=live}} Upon this revelation, Nicole Muniz, then CEO of Yuga Labs, confirmed ''BuzzFeed''{{'}}s report. Solano and Aronow went to [[Twitter]], commenting they were [[doxxed]] and uploaded images of themselves next to their Bored Ape profile pictures. Solano is a writer and editor, while No Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup are programmers. Aronow, the son of boat tycoon [[Donald Aronow]], has been documented as planning to attend an MFA program, before becoming addicted to [[crack cocaine]] and alcohol, falling ill and becoming a [[cryptocurrency]] [[day trading|day trader]].{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Jessica |title=Planet of the Bored Apes: Inside the NFT world's biggest success story |url=https://www.inputmag.com/features/bored-ape-yacht-club-greg-solano-wylie-aronow-profile |access-date=September 18, 2022 |work=Input |date=August 3, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920163640/https://www.inputmag.com/features/bored-ape-yacht-club-greg-solano-wylie-aronow-profile |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine|last=Chayka|first=Kyle|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-bored-ape-avatars-are-taking-over-twitter|title=Why Bored Ape Avatars Are Taking Over Twitter|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=July 30, 2021|accessdate=February 9, 2022|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121095330/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-bored-ape-avatars-are-taking-over-twitter|url-status=live}} Solano and Aronow brought in two friends of theirs, No Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, programmers who could handle the blockchain coding. The latter two were knowledgeable in computer science, having studied the field at the same university Solano attended; however, they "were not crypto-savvy," having both written their first lines of [[Solidity]] code, a language used for [[smart contracts]], in February 2021. Solano and Aronow brought in two friends of theirs, No Sass and Emperor Tomato Ketchup, programmers who could handle the blockchain coding. The latter two were knowledgeable in computer science, having studied the field at the same university Solano attended; however, they "were not crypto-savvy," having both written their first lines of [[Solidity]] code, a language used for [[smart contracts]], in February 2021.