Benjamin Wallace grew up in Washington, D.C., and was the son of Daphne Wallace and Don Wallace Jr.[1][2] His father was a professor emeritus of international law at Georgetown University.[1] Wallace knew by the eighth grade that he wanted to be a writer and majored in English with a minor in philosophy at Georgetown University.[2]
Wallace is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair.[3] He has written for New York magazine.[4] Wallace often writes about technology and was one of the first journalists to cover Bitcoin in a mainstream publication.[5]
Earlier in his career, after briefly teaching and writing in the Czech Republic and Hungary, he moved to New York and spent two years working for a financial newsletter.[2] Wallace then worked for Philadelphia Magazine in which he spent his last three years at the magazine as its executive editor.[2]
In 2008, Wallace published The Billionaire's Vinegar, subtitled The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine,[6] a book about Hardy Rodenstock's alleged Thomas Jefferson wine bottles.[7] It debuted at #10 on the New York Times bestseller list.[8]
Upon publication, The Economist described it as “a great tale, well told,” and The New York Times called it “one of the rare books on wine that transcends the genre.”[9][10]
In 2009, Michael Broadbent who auctioned some of Rodenstock's bottles, sued Random House, the publisher of The Billionaire's Vinegar for libel, claiming the book made allegations that he had behaved unprofessionally.[11] In the settlement, Random House apologized for the allegations and issued a statement in court accepting that they were not true.[12] Random House also paid an undisclosed amount of damages to Broadbent and agreed not to distribute the book in the United Kingdom.[12] Wallace said, "I have never felt that Mr. Broadbent acted in bad faith, and contrary to his claims, I maintain that The Billionaire's Vinegar does not suggest that he did."[12]
Wallace's TED talk on the price of happiness in which he discusses Rodenstock's alleged wine bottles
