Getting to Know Gary Johnson, President & CEO of Vertrue Incorporated

Vertrue Incorporated, one of the nation's top consumer services marketing companies, is, at its roots, the brainchild of CEO Gary Johnson. Gary Johnson, a 25-year veteran of the marketing world, has helped Vertrue grow from a start-up in 1989 to a publicly-held $220 million company by 1999 to an $800 million private enterprise in 2008.

Gary Johnson's own roots were firmly planted in the membership services marketing industry when he worked for an early competitor back in the 1980s. Seeing an opportunity to expand in the relatively untapped market, he broke out on his own in 1989 and created his own company in Omaha, Nebraska.

With the credit card industry growing by leaps and bounds at the time, Gary Johnson began carving out larger slices of the industry pie, growing at an annual rate of 40 percent. When Gary Johnson's firm signed several major credit card issuers as clients by 1996, he saw an opportunity for additional growth.

That year, he moved the firm's headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut, and took the company public, trading its stocks on the NASDAQ. Company revenues climbed, eclipsing $400 million by 2002, and Gary Johnson decided it was time to branch out even further.

Under his direction, the company has acquired a variety of subsidiary companies in recent years, including an online dating service, a bargain shopping portal for homes and automobiles, and a lead-generation specialist, among others. The company motto — "Get more out of life every day" — reflects his vision "to provide every consumer with access to savings and services that improve their daily lives."

Throughout his tenure as CEO of Vertrue, Gary Johnson has been recognized for his efforts by major business groups. In 1999, for instance, he was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Southwest Connecticut/New York Hudson Valley.

In 2004, the company was renamed "Vertrue," but its core mission has stayed the same. With over 25 membership programs serving approximately 18 million members, Gary Johnson's goal of improving the lives of consumers day in and day out has been realized, but there are still opportunities for expanding both product lines and membership enrollment. Given Gary Johnson's track record, further growth seems like a pretty solid bet.