The story of glenn stearns, entrepreneur, mentor and philanthropist, makes you believe in miracles. In a true rags to riches story, the 58-year-old went from an outsider in life to a leading actor in discovery channels 'undercover billionaire'. With his commitment and the right approach to his dreams, glenn knocked off the bumps in the road and climbed the ladder of success.
He was born in 1963 and was exposed to an alcoholic upbringing in the low-income suburbs of washington DC. He was diagnosed with dyslexia, failed fourth grade, and became a father at age 14. Eventually he paved his way to triumph and became the founder of underdog BBQ in erie, pennsylvania.
Glenn stearns of undercover billionaire (getty images)
A troubled childhood
Growing up in silver spring, maryland, he lived with his father, who worked as a printer, and his mother, who worked as a grocery clerk and maid. He was socially adept, had problems in his early years and was never really noticed or told about his dyslexia problems. After failing his fourth grade class, he was humiliated and he also suffered from his parents' divorce when he was 17.
He had a child with a 17-year-old girl named kathy. His eldest child, charlene, was born when he himself was in middle school. With great difficulty, he graduated from high school and was in the bottom 10 percent of his class. With the help of mentors, glenn graduated from towson university with a degree in economics.
A tragic career
According to a forbes report , 'stearns lending – owned by stearns holdings – survived the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis and emerged as one of the nation's largest wholesale lenders by volume. In a 2013 ranking published by trade magazine, it was ranked america's top-rated wholesale lender for residential real estate within mortgage finance. Non-bank lenders like stearns flourished in the post-crisis environment as traditional banks stepped back, but the often volatile market began to deteriorate in 2014. New mortgages declined this year and some private lenders were absorbed by larger companies. '
Stearns holdings had already filed for insolvency in july 2019. The report also says: 'court documents show that glenn stearns owns 29% of the company, which has assets of $1.22 billion and liabilities of $1.16 billion.'
What is its asset?
Stearns' investments helped him acquire a 188-foot yacht, a 9.1% stake in california's infinity bank and a sprawling real estate empire from seattle to maryland. According to celebrity net worth, it will be worth 500 million US dollars in 2020.
The report opened his eyes to the real picture and said he wasn't a billionaire after all. 'Although forbes was unable to value these smaller companies, and stearns may own other real estate and assets beyond public knowledge, it is highly unlikely that they would be sufficient to increase stearns' net worth by the $500 million he would need to reach $1 billion , 'it details.