Data-rich investigation of the "Undercover Billionaire" franchise that pairs narrative storytelling with measurable outcomes—answering whether 90 days, $100,000, and a famous face can build a sustainable business and what that experiment means for communities and entrepreneurship culture.
A third season was announced, bringing back the multi-billionaire format with another set of self-made millionaires. The known cast for this season includes:
The inaugural season aired in 2019 and focused on a single billionaire trying to prove that the original premise was possible. The Billionaire : Founder of Stearns Lending. Alias Used : Glenn Bryant. Location : Erie, Pennsylvania. The Business: Underdog BBQ
, which at its peak funded nearly $1 billion in mortgages monthly. He successfully launched Underdog BBQ index of undercover billionaire
The inaugural season featured , founder of Stearns Holdings, a California-based private mortgage lender. Location: Erie, Pennsylvania. Business Created: Underdog BBQ.
– Glenn arrives in Erie and starts from scratch.
Self-made billionaire Glenn Stearns (Stearns Lending) bets he can take $100, a beat-up pickup truck, and a fake identity to an unfamiliar city (Erie, Pennsylvania) and build a $1 million business in 90 days—without using his real name or existing wealth. The Billionaire : Founder of Stearns Lending
– The team races against time to launch Underdog BBQ at the competitive Erie Rib Fest.
reality series. The show's premise is a high-stakes business experiment:
: If the business falls short of the $1 million valuation, the entrepreneur must invest $1 million of their own money into the venture. The Business: Underdog BBQ , which at its
, viewers and fans typically use a breakdown of the entrepreneurs and their businesses as a reference guide. Series Cast & Business Index
Tech investor and CEO of Reign Ventures (Tacoma, Washington).
Whether it is scrubbing toilets, cleaning local businesses, or doing manual labor, every billionaire engaged in baseline hustles to generate their initial seed capital.