Recently, fans were shocked when they discovered who the richest actor in the world was.
It wasn’t Clooney, it wasn’t Harrison Ford, it wasn’t even someone like Margot Robbie who has combined her brilliant acting roles with becoming a bona fide star producer.
No, it was Jami Gertz, an actor who appeared in films such as Twisters and went on to become a billionaire, alongside her husband Antony Ressler, who is himself worth nearly $9 billion.
Gertz (right) appeared in the original Twisters (Universal)
Despite this though, there is another man who is considered one of the world’s richest actors, and he’s a former child star who appeared in an iconic cult classic film.
The man in question not only used to be an actor, but also ran for president in 2020 with Akon, no less, as his running mate.
No, I really am not making this up.
Now a billionaire, Brock Pierce was once a child star who appeared in the iconic Mighty Ducks film.
Pierce also starred in a film called ‘First Kid’ (Disney)
Pierce retired from acting at the age of 16, but in that time managed to rack up 11 acting credits.
His only film role since then is ironically HBO’s Silicon Valley, where he worked as a technical consultant for the show.
Where the show focused on a bunch of nerdy programmers trying to make their company a billion dollar success, Pierce made this a reality.
At the age of just 16, he co-founded a company called the Digital Entertainment Network (DEN).
Whilst this was unsuccessful, he has since pointed to how much he learned about predicting the market and business in creating this company.
DEN looked to take on video streaming seven whole years before YouTube, and nine before Netflix moved from DVD rental to online streaming.
He was described in a profile by Rolling Stone as ‘The Hippie King of Cryptocurrency’ and made a huge amount of his money by being an early investor in Bitcoin.
(Andrew Toth via Getty Images)
According to Celebrity Net Worth, he is the third wealthiest ‘actor’ in the world, behind only Gertz and Oprah Winfrey.
He sits at a net worth of $1 billion, slightly above the Olsen twins in fourth (though that feels like cheating).
Though the exact amount he is worth is unclear, considering Pierce’s wealth is predominantly tied up in Bitcoin, the digital currency being at a near-all time high value-wise means that he is probably in good stead.
Makes sense that he didn’t feel the need to return for the Mighty Ducks Disney+ reboot.
While the former child star has had a lot of success in business, that has not translated too well to politics.
In running for president in 2020, Pierce finished 20,000 votes short of the presidency, and 81 million short of winning.
Better luck next time champ.
