Bill Zanker
Bill Zanker is an American businessman best known as the founder of the adult education company The Learning Annex, the co-founder of the boutique fitness brand GRIT BXNG, and a longtime associate of Donald J. Trump.[1] Since early 2025 he has been at the center of Trump's meme coin operation, having previously run the president's branded NFT, shoe, and watch endeavors.[2] Zanker is an active angel investor in consumer start-ups and has stated that he has had several successful exits. He lives in New York City and Park City, Utah.[3]
The Learning Annex
Zanker started The Learning Annex in 1980 with $5,000 of his own money, building it into an adult education company.[3] According to a HarperCollins author page, the company spent two consecutive years on Inc. magazine's Fastest Growing Companies list and reached over $100 million in annual sales; the same page attributes the growth of the business to Zanker's partnership with and learning from Trump's "think BIG" strategies.[3] Zanker has said that through The Learning Annex he taught over two million students how to improve their lives, make changes, and take action.[1] He has been featured in Success, Forbes, Fortune, Inc., and Money magazines.[3]
GRIT BXNG and GRIT EPIQ
Zanker co-founded GRIT BXNG with his son and daughter and serves as its CEO and president.[1] GRIT BXNG is a 50-minute full-body boxing, treadmill and weight boutique fitness studio, which the company describes as the first fitness studio with a full liquor bar.[1] Zanker traces the concept to his daughter Ediva, who after moving to New York City could not find a gym or studio where she could meet people; the family responded by installing a full liquor bar so clients could socialize with trainers and like-minded people, a step Zanker describes as the first time anyone put a liquor bar into a fitness studio.[1]
Zanker has said the team was initially hesitant to feature the bar in marketing for fear of backlash, but that many clients ended up enjoying drinks after workouts, staying "sweaty at the bar" to order healthy cocktails and mocktails, and that some formed relationships or friendships at the studio.[1] Upon opening, the founders adopted a boxer puppy as the gym mascot; named GRITTY, the puppy became a marketing draw despite peeing all over the gym, with Zanker recounting that "all around the city everyone knew to come to GRIT to see GRITTY the cute puppy boxer."[1]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when GRIT was closed, Zanker and his family bought at-home fitness devices such as Peloton, Tonal, MIRROR, and Liteboxer, but found they lacked the social experience of the studio.[1] In response they engaged Eric Villency — a friend who designed the Peloton bike — to build a full home gym with artificial intelligence for form correction and a social experience.[1] The resulting product, the GRIT EPIQ, was slated to come out in 2022, and Zanker co-founded and serves as president of GRIT EPIQ alongside GRIT BXNG.[1]
Trump Crypto and Consumer Ventures
Zanker helped Donald Trump and his family launch an eponymous NFT collection and later a memecoin, and he previously ran the president's branded NFT, shoe, and watch endeavors.[4][2] Since the TRUMP token launched in early 2025, Zanker has been at the center of the president's meme coin operation. The token reached a fully diluted valuation of nearly $75 billion on the eve of Trump's second inauguration in January 2025; by June 2026 its price had fallen more than 97% from its January peak, valuing it at roughly $2 billion.[2]
Zanker has framed his work as building the token into a practical tool, telling CoinDesk, "Every day, we're focused on turning TRUMP into a practical tool for engagement and mainstream adoption," and teasing a "TRUMP Mobile Game coming soon."[4] He has described the effort in expansive terms, telling Decrypt, "We're not a cartoon. We're the biggest brand on Earth."[2]
Wallet Cease-and-Desist
In mid-2025, weeks before a July 14, 2025 report, Zanker received a cease-and-desist letter from the Trump family, which reportedly accused him of misusing the Trump name to promote a crypto wallet tied to the TRUMP token; the family said it never authorized the project.[4] Zanker downplayed the episode in an interview with CoinDesk conducted over Telegram and organized by Tron, saying there was "No dispute, just a big misunderstanding" and that he remained in good graces with the family.[4] He said both sides were still working together and cited a recent announcement from World Liberty Financial that it was adding the TRUMP token to its treasury as evidence that "all is well," explaining that World Liberty was in advanced stages of its own wallet and that "we felt it would be best for them to launch with it."[4]
Trump Coin Club
By June 2026, Zanker was rolling out a permanent "Trump Coin Club" designed to give top holders of the president's meme coin access to a recurring calendar of exclusive events, telling Decrypt, "We want to reward our best holders and we're going to do many other events in the future."[2] The initiative followed two earlier gatherings for token holders — including a splashy event at Mar-a-Lago weeks before the club's announcement — both of which featured drop-ins from Trump.[2]
The first Trump Coin Club event was set for the FIFA World Cup finals, where the top 19 holders of the meme coin were to receive a complimentary three-day "luxury experience" culminating in a private suite viewing of the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.[2] The package included accommodation at the St. Regis New York, a gala dinner, and VIP access to a New York City nightclub that had not yet been chosen. Zanker said the Level 3 suite was not secured by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whom he described as a friend of the president.[2] Eligible holders could come from anywhere except OFAC-sanctioned countries such as Iran and North Korea, and all winners would undergo know-your-customer verification, with attendees also subject to Secret Service security checks.[2]
