Iconic Young and Restless character’s rags to riches story spans decades.

With Eric Braeden celebrating 40 years on Y&R as Victor Newman, Soaps.com decided to provide an overview of the remarkable history of the iconic character who built an empire from the ground up.

1.

Victor Newman was born Christian Miller. He changed his name after making a ‘new man’ of himself. Victor’s many nicknames include The Great Victor Newman (TGVN), The Black Knight, and The Mustache. The name Christian was passed on to Nicholas as a middle name, and to one of his grandsons.

2.

Victor’s rags to riches story began in Buffalo, New York, where his mother, Cora Miller, found herself without the means to raise both Christian (Victor) and his younger brother Matt, after their father, Albert Miller, abandoned the family. Victor was put into an orphanage at age 7.

3.

Victor Newman came to Genoa City to run Chancellor Industries for Katherine Chancellor, which was the start of a lifelong friendship between the two.

4.

Victor has ‘died’ four times. Twice he was presumed dead, once he was declared dead but was actually in hiding, and once he faked his own death.

5.

Victor Newman’s go-to for blowing off steam and staying in shape is boxing. One of his first gifts to his son, Victor Newman Jr. (Adam) was a pair of boxing gloves.

6.

Nikki Reed Newman is the love of Victor’s life. They met through his friend Douglas Austin when she was young woman working as a stripper at The Bayou. In a storyline reminiscent of My Fair Lady, Victor took Nikki home and helped her to transform from a working girl into a refined young woman who would later become his wife. The couple is often referred to by their smush name, ‘Niktor’.

7.

Victor has been married over a dozen times, though one was fake, and several were annulled or invalid. His wives: Julia Newman, Nikki Reed Newman (4 times), Leanna ‘Love’ Randolph, Ashley Abbott (twice), Hope Adams, Diane Jenkins (twice), Sabrina Costelana, and Sharon Collins Newman.

8.

Victor Newman’s heady combination of power and charm attracted many lovers over the years including Lauralee Brooks, Eve Howard, Elise Moxley, Jill Abbott, Cassandra Rawlins, Ramona Caceres, Genevieve Atkinson, Meredith Gates, and Helen Wallace.

9.

Victor Newman has called few people ‘friend’ over the years. Neil Winters and Katherine Chancellor were considered friends born of business relationships, he mentored Neil’s son Devon Hamilton, and was often friendly with his lawyer, Michael Baldwin, in the past. Victor’s best and most loyal friend was Douglas Austin (the Colonel), who was always there for Victor, whether to help with a legal matter or to serve as a best man. Victor respected Douglas and often took his advice. Douglas left town to move to England in 1995 and was later revealed to have died.

More: 25 things to know about Michael Baldwin

10.

Victor has been known to give extravagant gifts. He loves giving ponies to his children and grandchildren and once gifted Neil Winters with a private plane.

11.

Victor has four children, Victoria, Nicholas, Victor Jr. (Adam), and Abby, and seven biological grandchildren – Noah, Summer, Reed, Faith, Connor, Katie, and Christian. He considered Cassie his grandchild as she was adopted by Nick, as he does Johnny, who was adopted by Victoria. Colleen Carlton was his godchild and he received her heart in a transplant that saved his life when she died.

12.

Victor has undergone two vasectomies, one vasectomy reversal, and has also had his sperm stolen from a sperm bank, which resulted in Ashley Abbott giving birth to Abby.

13.

Victor Newman enjoys dogs and of course, keeps horses on the ranch. His horse is Jupiter. He’s had four dogs – Albert, Skippy, Zapato, and Segundo.

14.

Victor Newman is a resilient man; he’s been poisoned, shot three times, wounded by a spear gun, knifed, has broken his leg, wrist, and suffered a concussion during fights, battled back after a heart attack and a minor stroke, was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy, and has a blood disease, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

15.

Victor Newman’s arch-rival is Jack Abbott. Though relations have cooled and there were times they called brief truces, over decades the pair clashed bitterly time and again in both business and love. Jack and Victor both loved and married Nikki, and even forged connections with one another’s children, which only served to exacerbate their animosity. The pair also made plays for each other’s companies over the years. The result has been some epically memorable scenes, including Jack stepping over Victor’s unconscious body and leaving him for dead, and an infuriated Jack tossing Jabot’s CEO chair through a glass window. Victor once shot Jack and has also had him kidnapped and held captive while replacing him with a doppelganger, a crime for which he did time.

More: Gallery, Peter Bergman’s 30 years as Jack Abbott

16.

Victor has been known to play fast and loose with the law over the years in the interests of protecting his family and business. His first crime on Young and Restless was imprisoning his wife Julia’s lover in the basement and feeding him rats, for which he was never charged. He’s committed blackmail and bribery, and has been accused of everything from obstruction of justice and embezzling to murder.

17.

Victor Newman was the subject of a tell-all book entitled Ruthless: The Victor Newman Story which was written by Leanna ‘Love’ Randolph under the pen name Nora Randall. She was hired by Jack Abbott to expose the dirty details on his rival, but later felt guilty, so wrote another book, Victor Newman – Man and Myth as Leanna Love.

18.

After years spent bringing his children into the business, only to pit them against each other, fire them, or have them leave, Victor handed the reins of his beloved company, Newman Enterprises, over to Victoria in October 2019 after she delivered an ultimatum and effectively retired. As the 50th anniversary of the company is celebrated, it remains to be seen if Victor will ever come out of retirement.