5 hours Ago
In the 1990s, even as Macaulay Culkin and the Olsen Twins were ruling the roost as the true 'A-list' child stars, Brock Pierce was not too far behind. The young actor was the star of The Mighty Ducks franchise and also appeared in several other films and shows in his early teens. Yet, by the time he was an adult, Pierce quit acting for entrepreneurship.
So perhaps it would be a misnomer to call him to call him the first billionaire actor in the world (he attained the status in 2015). But he did get there, on the back of an unusual career path. ( Also read: Pakistan's richest actor has net worth of $50 million; just 6% of Shah Rukh Khan's but more than Ranbir Kapoor, Prabhas ) Brock Pierce's acting career Brock entered showbiz as a toddler, appearing in TV commercials before he had turned 3.
His breakthrough as an actor came in 1992 when he starred in The Mighty Ducks at the age of 11. He reprised his role in the 1994 sequel and also starred in First Kid (1996). His other film credits include Little Big League (1994), Ripper Man (1995), Problem Child 3: Junior in Love (1995), Three Wishes (1995), and Earth Minus Zero (1996).
The 1997 release The Ride was his final screen outing. He was just 16 when he retired from acting to focus on academics. How Brock Pierce became a billionaire In 1997, Pierce joined as a minor partner with Marc Collins-Rector and Chad Schackley in establishing Digital Entertainment Network (DEN), one of the earliest online video content providers in the world.
By the age of 18, Pierce was making $250k a year, courtesy of his investments. In 2001, he founded Internet Gaming Entertainment, the company that pioneered the MMORPG currency-selling services. By 2005, the company accounted for 50% of the US market, which has about $500 million in annual volume.
After a string of other successful business ventures, Brock Pierce turned to cryptocurrency in 2013, founding venture capital firm Blockchain Capital (BCC). The following year, he co-founded the cryptocurrency Tether. In 2018, Forbes named him among the "top 20 wealthiest people in crypto", estimating his net worth at $1.
1 billion. This made him the richest actor (former or active) in the world. What does Brock Pierce do today? Since 2014, Brock has appeared in three documentaries as himself, but has no plans to return to acting.
In 2017, he relocated to Puerto Rico, reportedly due to the island's lax tax laws. In 2020, he unsuccessfully ran for US President as an Independent candidate. He repeated his political aspirations with a Senate campaign in Vermont in 2022, but later pulled out as his candidacy could have made him lose his federal income tax-free status as a Puerto Rico resident.
.
