DAD & HUSBAND FIRST, CEO, ENTREPRENEUR, INVESTOR, ATTORNEY, COACH & WINE ENTHUSIAST

Michael is everything listed above and so much more. Let’s begin with wine, well, because it’s wine. Mike is currently the Chairman and CEO of Votto Vines Importing, the first wine importing company ever to be named by Forbes as one of America’s Most Promising Companies and to earn a place on the Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing companies in America.

As Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Votto Vines, Mike is responsible for the strategic direction of the family business that he co-founded in 2009. Votto Vines partners with highly acclaimed wineries around the world, develops proprietary wine brands and works with leading distributors and national retailers such as Costco and Total Wine.   In thirteen years of leading Votto Vines, Mike has grown the business to annual sales of greater than $50M and built a team of 30 employees in five states.  Votto Vines has been engaged by notable organizations including the NFL for private events, was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as One of the Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America and nominated by leading wine and spirits industry publication, Wine Enthusiast, as “Importer of the Year”. Additionally, Mike has overseen three rounds of equity fundraising including the partial sale of Votto Vines to a private equity backed strategic company in Italy in 2021. Under Mike’s guidance, Votto Vines has also closed two acquisitions including a Massachusetts-based wine importer and distributor. 

Prior to transitioning to a full-time role at Votto Vines, Mike spent more than ten years practicing commercial real estate and corporate law at two American Lawyer Top 100 law firms, Goodwin Procter in Boston and Schulte Roth & Zabel in New York City, and later served as Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of an asset management firm with greater than $25B in assets under management. During his tenure, Mike was lead counsel in closing more than one billion dollars in alternative investments, including commercial real estate, private equity and debt investments, and also helped launch a family of mutual funds and several private funds. 

Mike earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in European History at Union College where he was a member of the varsity basketball team. Mike also studied abroad in Florence, Italy during his undergraduate studies. He earned a law degree magna cum laude from Syracuse University, which he attended on a full scholarship as a graduate assistant for the Syracuse football program. At Syracuse, Mike was an editor of the Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce and a member of the Justinian Honorary Law society.  Subsequent to law school graduation, Mike completed Wine Studies II coursework at the Boston University Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center. Mike is currently enrolled at Columbia Business School in its Venture Capital and Private Equity Program.

Mike is admitted to the bar of the State of New York and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is an Authorized House Counsel in the State of Connecticut. He is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy and is a published author in the fields of Italian citizenship and genealogy and commercial real estate finance.  Mike was previously recognized in the “Alumni Spotlight” features of Syracuse University College of Law (Fall, 2012) and Goodwin Procter LLP (April, 2013).   He is a frequent lecturer and panelist at both investment and wine industry conferences.   

Mike also works with several technology companies as an advisor and angel investor, including TruePic, a San Diego-based digital image and video authentication company that recently closed a Series B venture capital round led by Microsoft and Adobe.  Mike’s board experience includes Dash Software (Fintech/NYC/sold to Reserve), Vinport Marketing (E-commerce/NYC), Centro Sportivo Cavalieri (Sports & Recreation/Rome) and KofC Polska (Non-profit/Poland).  Mike has been a guest lecturer at Union College, Syracuse University, Quinnipiac University and has also been a judge and mentor at numerous business plan and venture capital competitions, including the New Venture Competition in New Haven, Connecticut.

In 2013, Mike was selected as one of Connecticut Magazine’s prestigious 40 under 40 business leaders and in 2014 was nominated for the Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards as “Innovator/Executive of the Year”.   Mike has been featured as part of Forbes coverage of America’s Most Promising Companies and was profiled in Michael Caldwell’s book “The Corporate Wizards”.  In 2015, he was selected by Lawyers Weekly as one of the leading in-house attorneys in New England and in 2016 he was named one of the top middle-market CEOs in America by Axial. In 2019, Mike was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Mike currently resides in Connecticut with his wife and children. He is an active parish member of St. Bridget Church and a youth football, basketball and softball coach.