'Undercover Billionaire': Glenn Stearns shows how to set up a million-dollar company in 90 days on Discovery's new docuseries
Billionaire Glenn Stearns is no stranger to poverty and hardships. Born into a blue-collar, alcoholic family, Glenn worked really hard to make something of himself. Along the way he faced many challenges like failing his fourth grade, being diagnosed with dyslexia and even fathering a child at fourteen. But none of these held him back. He went on to set up a successful mortgage lending company, which turned him into a billionaire. Things were going very well for this hard-working billionaire, so much so that his company came out unscathed during the 2007-08 slump when the economy hit rock-bottom.
One fine day, Glenn found out that he had cancer, and at this point in his life he realized what filled him with joy. He enjoyed battling challenges; most recently the 2007-08 slump, and also he was left to wonder if he could recreate the same success again. This thought gnawed at him enough to challenge himself to start all over again. He approached Discovery producers and pitched to them his idea of recreating his success, but this time in a more time-bound manner and he also wanted to prove to the world that the American Dream was very much alive and thriving. In an interview with MEAWW, Glenn shared, "I would like to show that if you put together a great team and work hard and you have confidence, you can do anything you want in this country and you know, we have so many resources."
Discovery immediately lapped up the idea and added their own twist to it to make the challenge more interesting. They gave Glenn $100, a cell phone with no contacts, an old pickup truck, and dropped him off in Erie, Pennsylvania to set up his million-dollar business. In case Glenn pulls this off, then the top-performing team members will earn a stake in the company and a key role running it. An independent financial evaluator will also assess the value of the new company to see whether it has hit the mark. If it’s a penny short of $1 million, Glenn will put $1 million of his own money into the business.
In the trailer, we see snippets of what we can expect to see on the show. We see Glenn leaving behind his lavish lifestyle and family, to find himself in a former industrial town of Erie, Pennsylvania. He experiences what millions of people experience daily in their struggle to make ends meet- eating ramen noodles, scrubbing toilets, and even sleeping in a car! The trailer looks very promising and makes the struggles of this brave billionaire very relatable. We can't wait to watch this show, to find out if he manages to set up the million-dollar company, and hopefully learn a lesson or two from him along the way.
'Undercover Billionaire' is set to premiere on Tuesday, August 6, at 10 pm ET/PT on Discovery or DiscoveryGo.