Discovery has set a premiere date for “Undercover Billionaire,” a reality show in which real-life billionaire Glenn Stearns adopts an alias and attempts to start a million-dollar company — without using any of his existing wealth or connections.
“With just $100 in his pocket, Glenn will ditch his private jet and yacht and head to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he will assume the alias ‘Glenn Bryant’ — a regular guy who’s spent the last 30 years in corporate America but always dreamed to have a business of his own. To make things fair, he won’t use his real name, contacts or wealth,” Discovery said in a statement. “Along the way, he’ll share practical tips and the knowledge on how to build a fortune from his three decades in business. But in order to succeed, Glenn will need to come up with a million-dollar idea and find a team to help him build it.”
Stearns’ street smarts will be put to the test to see if he can become a self-made man for the second time in his life. He was born to a working-class family, diagnosed with dyslexia and fathered a child at the age of 14. Despite the odds, he became the first in his family to graduate from college — and amassed a considerable fortune with his own mortgage company, Stearns Lending LLC, as well as a settlement company, Carriage Escrow.
After the 90 days are up, Stearns will reveal his real identity and background — and give the top performing team members a stake in the company they’ve built and a key role in running it. A financial evaluator will assess the value of the business to see if it’s worth $1 million. If it’s not, Stearns has promised to put $1 million of his own money into it, so no matter what happens, the rest of his team can’t lose.
“Undercover Billionaire” is produced for Discovery Channel by This is Just a Test, Aengus James, Colin King Miller, Tim Warren and Cynthia Childs as executive producers and Melinda Cea as a co-executive producer. Joseph Boyle and Carter Figueroa are executive producers for Discovery Channel,and Jessica Mollo is associate producer.
“Undercover Billionaire” premieres Tuesday, August 6 at 10/9c on Discovery.