Tom Vitale (born Thomas P. Vitale) is an American financial planner, TV producer, and entrepreneur. He is popularly known as actress and TV personality Valerie Bertinelli’s husband of 10 years. As a qualified investment professional dealing with the financial demands of the crème de la crème of the entertainment industry, Tom Vitale is estimated to have a net worth of $5 million.
He is an alumnus of the prestigious Williams College in the United States of America. From a career spanning nearly four decades, Vitale has built a business empire from his earnings. He co-founded an e-commerce company known as Veebow and is Executive Vice President of Programming & Original Movies for Syfy and Chiller.
In addition, he served as President of Fieri Manhattan and was the NYS Vice President of Fieri National, an Italian-American service, cultural and charitable organisation. Vitale has four children.
Top ten facts about Tom Vitale
- He was born Thomas P. Vitale on 15 August 1963 in California, US, and has one known sibling, a brother named David Vitale.
- Vitale attended Williams College, one of the lesser-known prestigious higher institutions in the country. He was a board member of the Williams Club for almost 10 years and still participates in activities relating to the college alumni.
- After college, he started pursuing a career in finance and entered the television space as a financial planner and business executive.
- Vitale joined Viacom when the company was a distributor of CBS television series and other syndicated television programs. He worked as an acquisition executive before leaving the company for NBC.
- It was during this period he went into production and co-produced “Dyslexic Heart”, an Off-Off-Broadway play.
- In 1993, he joined Syfy and Chiller as Executive Vice President of Programming & Original Movies.
- Collaborating with Edward Leow, he founded an e-commerce company called Veebow, in 2011. The company shut down in 2018 but raised $1.3M in funding over two rounds before closing.
- Vitale married his first wife Sharon Vitale in the late 1980s and they share four children; Andie Vitale, Angela Vitale, and two others.
- In 2001, the police arrested him for allegedly attacking his now ex-wife in their home and he has been involved in several other violent assault-related incidences.
- On 1 January 2011, Vitale married Valerie Bertinelli in a high-profile ceremony held in Malibu, California.
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Early life and education
Tom Vitale was born Thomas P. Vitale on 15 August 1963 in California, US. There is not much information available about his early life and childhood but we found that he has one known sibling, a brother named David Vitale. It is also not revealed if his parents are still alive or not.
While his parent’s name is not made public, Tom likely comes from a successful and rich family. He attended Williams College, one of the lesser-known prestigious higher institutions in the country. Although, it is not among the exclusive Ivy League Universities.
After he graduated, he was a board member of the Williams Club for almost 10 years and he still participates in activities relating to the college alumni.
Career
Vitale started pursuing a career in finance after college in the late 1980s. By 1987, he entered the television space as a financial planner and business executive. He later joined Viacom, when the company was a distributor of CBS television series and other syndicated television programs. At Viacom, he was involved in program syndication.
Tom Vitale left Viacom and joined NBC where he continued in the same role. After that, he became involved in his earliest production works. He served as co-producer of “Dyslexic Heart”, an Off-Off-Broadway play.
Syfy and Chiller
In 1993, he joined Syfy and Chiller as Executive Vice President of Programming & Original Movies. His position also saw him take up his past responsibilities at Viacom and NBC. Vitale was in charge of acquisitions and scheduling of all programming, as well as the development and commissioning of original films and specials, for both networks.
Veebow
In 2011, Vitale and Edward Leow founded an e-commerce company called Veebow. According to Crunchbase, the company raised a total of $1.3M in funding over 2 rounds, and their latest funding was raised on 8 April 2013 from a Debt Financing round.
Veebow is a tech marketing business providing a mobile loyalty, marketing and engagement solution for retail merchants and franchises. It had between 11 to 50 employees and Tom Vitale served as CEO of the company. Currently, it has shut down after closing its doors in 2018.
Films and TV shows
Apart from being a business executive, Vitale is passionate about filmmaking. In 2020, he offered to produce an unnamed Syfy and Chiller show. He also appeared in a number of TV shows such as “20/20” (2009), “E! True Hollywood Story” (2009), “Hot in Cleveland” (2012), “The Apprentice” (2013), “Who Do You Think You Are?” (2014), and “Valerie’s Home Cooking” (2015 till date).
Other executive roles
He was President of Fieri Manhattan and served as the NYS Vice President of Fieri National, an Italian-American service, cultural and charitable organisation.
Personal life
Before he met actress and TV personality, Valerie Bertinelli, Tom Vitale was married to his first wife Sharon. He and his ex-wife share four children. However, not much is known about her. It appears that she has taken steps to ensure that the media stays out of her life. In contrast, there is a lot of information about his current wife who is a celebrity.
Sources claim that Bertinelli and Vitale met for the first time at a party in 2004 when her brother Patrick introduced them to each other. At the time, the actress was separated from her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen. Vitale too was going through a breakup with his first wife.
They were unofficially dating but rarely made public appearances together because the actress was still married. After her divorce from Halen was finalised in 2007, Bertinelli and Vitale began dating officially. She announced that they were engaged in May 2010.
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On 1 January 2011, Tom Vitale married Valerie Bertinelli in a high-profile ceremony held in Malibu, California. American fashion designer David Meister designed the actress’ wedding dress. Through their marriage, Wolfgang Van Halen became Vitale’s stepson. Here are some important details about his wives.
Sharon Vitale
Sharon was Tom Vitale first wife and they were married for about 15 to 20 years before their divorce. The couple shared four children but split due to problems of domestic violence, according to a gossip blog.
Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Ann Bertinelli was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on 23 April 1960 and she is 61 years old. Her parents are Nancy and Andrew Bertinelli, a General Motors executive. She is of Italian-English descent as her mother is English while her father is Italian. Her three living brother are David, Patrick and Drew, one of her brothers, Mark, died in infancy.
She made her acting debut on an episode of “Apple’s Way” (1974 – 1984) before getting a lead role as Barbara Cooper in the 1975 sitcom “One Day at a Time”. Bertinelli began getting more film and TV roles following the success of the sitcom. She was in “Sydney” (1990), “Café Americain” (1993 – 1994), “Touched by an Angel” (2001 – 2003), “Hot in Cleveland” (2010 – 2015).
After “Hot in Cleveland” ended, Valerie Bertinelli began to host the competitive reality baking program “Kids Baking Championship” alongside baker Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes in February 2015. Additionally, her own cooking show “Valerie’s Home Cooking” premiered in August 2015 on Food Network. The show won the Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Culinary Program and Outstanding Culinary Host in 2019.
She made a name for herself as a celebrity chef and TV personality, by 2019, she was hosting two additional Food Network shows “Family Food Showdown” and “Family Restaurant Rivals”. In 2008, Bertinelli released an autobiography titled “Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time”, about her diet journey adopting the Jenny Craig weight loss program. She wrote a follow-up book “Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life Without Opening the Fridge” in 2009.
She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film back to back in 1980 and 1981. Additionally, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.
Valerie Bertinelli is married to Tom Vitale after divorcing American musician and songwriter Eddie Van Halen. She has a son named Wolfgang William Van Halen, an American musician best known as the former bassist for his father’s band Van Halen (2006–2020) and metal band Tremonti (2012–2016).
Children
He has four children but we only found the names of two: Andie Vitale (daughter) and Angela Vitale (daughter). Angela is known for her work on Will & Grace (1998), Call Your Mother (2021) and Disney Quizney (TV) (2018). She and her siblings have appeared on “Valerie’s Home Cooking” show.
Tom Vitale Net worth
As of 2020, Tom Vitale has an estimated net worth of $5 million. He makes most of his money from his annual pay at Syfy and Chiller as well as several other businesses in the film and TV industry. He likely also helps other celebrities invest their money as their financial planner.
Meanwhile, his wife is said to be richer than he is. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Valerie Bertinelli has an estimated net worth of $20 million as of May 2021.
Violence and legal issues
In 2001, the police arrested him for allegedly attacking his now ex-wife, Sharon, in their home. He resisted arrest before the police subdued him and took him in. Also, he allegedly slapped with another assault charge some months later for hitting his child and underwent 12-weeks compulsory anger management classes.
In 2003, he was once again involved in a violent clash with another man. The case landed him in court and he paid for damages according to unverified accounts. Another violent assault in 2004 saw him placed under supervised probation for two years.
Conclusion
Vitale has made a name for himself as one of the leading business executives in the American film industry but he is yet to make his big break as a producer. At 57, it does appear that he can still embark on his production journey and succeed.
His violent streak has not reared its head again in public, which is a good thing for him and his family. Before he married Valerie Bertinelli, her friends were allegedly against their union because of his assault history. Ten years down the line now, the couple seems to be doing okay.
Besides his work as a financial planner, Tom Vitale is also well known for his philanthropic activities, especially with the Fieri National organisation. He and his family are among the most popular figures in American circles and they are held in high esteem.
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Interesting
Hmmn.