Alex Berenson

Alex Berenson (born January 6, 1973) is an American author and former investigative reporter specializing in national security, pharmaceuticals, and public health policy. After graduating from Yale University in 1994 with degrees in history and economics, he began his journalism career at the Denver Post and later joined The New York Times in 1999, where he covered topics including the pharmaceutical industry , the Iraq War , and corporate finance until around 2010. Berenson has since authored a bestselling thriller series featuring CIA agent John Wells, which earned him an Edgar Award for Best First Novel, as well as nonfiction works examining the risks of marijuana legalization and scrutinizing official narratives on COVID-19 mortality, lockdowns, and vaccine effectiveness. His 2019 book Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence argued, based on epidemiological data, that high-potency cannabis increases risks of psychosis and violent behavior, challenging assumptions underlying legalization efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic , Berenson's independent analyses—published in books like Unreported Truths about COVID-19 and Pandemia —highlighted discrepancies in reported death counts, the protective role of prior infection over vaccination in some contexts, and the limited impact of masks and restrictions on transmission, positions that drew both acclaim for prescience and criticism from public health authorities amid prevailing consensus. In 2021, he was suspended from Twitter for stating that COVID-19 vaccines did not substantially prevent infection or transmission—a claim later corroborated by empirical studies showing waning efficacy against variants—but was reinstated following changes in platform leadership. Berenson's work exemplifies data-centric skepticism toward institutional claims, often prioritizing primary sources like government statistics over secondary interpretations.

Alex Berenson was born in New York in 1973 to Harvey S. Berenson and Ellen V. Berenson. He has one brother, David Berenson.

The Berenson family lived in Englewood, New Jersey , where Alex spent his childhood and formative years. Little is publicly documented about specific events or influences from this period, though Berenson later described himself in biographical notes as having developed an early interest in storytelling and inquiry. His father, a Yale alumnus from the class of 1964, passed away in 2020.

Berenson completed his secondary education at the Horace Mann School in New York City . He then attended Yale University , graduating in 1994 with bachelor's degrees in history and economics .

His coursework at Yale emphasized analytical methods from economics alongside historical narratives, which aligned with his subsequent entry into business reporting. No specific professors or intellectual mentors from Yale are prominently cited in biographical accounts as direct influences on his career trajectory. Berenson has described maintaining a broad curiosity across topics rather than narrow obsessions shaping his worldview during this period.

Berenson commenced his journalism career immediately following his graduation from Yale University in 1994 with bachelor's degrees in history and economics, securing a position as a business reporter at The Denver Post that June. In this role, he focused on financial and economic reporting, gaining initial on-the-job experience in daily newspaper journalism without prior formal training in the field, leveraging his academic background in economics.

He departed The Denver Post in August 1996 to become one of the inaugural reporters at TheStreet.com , a pioneering online financial news platform founded by Jim Cramer .