Rick Harrison Net Worth
Rick Harrison Net Worth: | $60 Million |
Nationality: | American |
Born: | 22nd March 1965 (56 Years Old) |
Profession: | Businessman, Reality TV Personality, And Owner Of The Silver Pawn Shop |
Children: | 3 |
The American businessman and TV personality Rick Harrison net worth is $9 million.
Born in Lexington, North Carolina, Harrison rose to fame on the History Channel’s Pawn Stars.
Rick Harrison’s Early Life
Rick was named after his father Richard Harrison Jr and is originally from Danville, Virginia.
In 1958 Rick’s father met Joanne Rhue, Rick’s mother, at the age of 17 at a barn dance.
It was at this time when Rick’s father had joined the US Navy and but the pair remained together and were married just 2 years later.
Rick was the third child to his mother and father. His eldest sibling, Sherry, had Down syndrome and tragically died at the age of six.
Rick has an elder brother, Joseph, and a younger brother, Chris.
A Young Rick Harrison with his mother, father, and two brothers
According to Rick’s son, Corey, the family are related to William Henry Harrison, the U.S. president, however, this is unproven and has been completely dismissed by Rick himself.
When Harrison was just two, the US Navy relocated his father and the family to San Diego, California.
It was the move to the West coast of America that would see Rick settle here for a majority of his life.
Childhood Illness and Developing a Love for Reading
At the age of 8, the young Harrison began to suffer from severe epileptic seizures.
In fact they were so sever that the middle child would be bed ridden for long periods of time. However, it was during this time that he developed a love of reading.
He enjoyed The Great Brain, a series of books written by John D. Fitzgerald that was based around a ten-year-old main character called Tom that would invent money-making schemes.
But the young Harrison’s love of books wasn’t limited to fiction; he read all sorts, including books on history and physics.
Despite being well-read, Harrison struggled in school and he dropped out of high school during tenth grade at the age of 16 years old.
According to the History Channel, Rick dropped out of high school as he was making $2,000 a week selling fake Gucci bags.
Adulthood and Family Life
In April 1981, the Harrisons moved to Las Vegas, Nevada following the collapse of the family’s real estate business.
A year later, at just 17, Harrison’s girlfriend became pregnant. Unfortunately, the couple miscarried but they still decided to marry.
The couple’s first child, named Corey, arrived on 27th April 1983. They had a second son called Adam two years later.
However, shortly after Adam was born, Rick and his wife separated and divorced.
Rick wasn’t single for long; just nine months after separating, he met Tracy on a blind date.
They were living together six months later and married after a further eight months.
Rick Harrison Net Worth Explained – How It Started
Shortly after moving to Las Vegas, Rick’s father opened a second-hand shop called the Gold & Silver Coin Shop.
Rick worked here during the day and at night, repossessed cars to make a living.
The pair were really keen to open a pawn shop as a “logical progression” to their second-hand store business, but this was difficult.
In 1955, there was a new law in Las Vegas restricting the issuing of pawn licenses that were dependent on the city’s population.
As soon as the population of Las Vegas reached 250,000, the Harrisons were able to get their pawn license.
As a result, the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop opened in 1989 close to the Las Vegas Strip.
Business Started To Boom
The Gold & Silver Pawn Shop business went from strength to strength. In 2005, the Harrisons loaned around $3 million each year.
This meant they earned around $700,000.
Over the years, the shop developed a reputation for sports items that had unique histories.
As well as this, it was frequently used by Las Vegas gamblers who had lost all they had but needed to pawn an item so that they could pay for gas to drive home.
The majority of items pawned in their store were jewelry.
Becoming Famous
In 2003, the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop was featured on Insomniac with Dave Attell. The hugely successful Comedy Central show followed Attel around various cities and landmarks around the world.
The comedian would then give his own hilarious opinion on cities and stores that he visited.
After this, Rick Harrison pitched many times to try and get a show made about a pawn shop, but he was not successful.
In 2008, however, Leftfield Pictures approached Harrison when they came up with the idea of a reality TV show based on a pawn shop in Las Vegas.
This was pitched as a series to HBO, but they preferred to make it into a series at the night window of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, following the style of Taxicab Confessions.
Moving to the History Channel
The format was changed when the show went to the History Channel. Instead, there were on-camera experts that appraised items that were brought into the shop.
This show originally had the title Pawning History, but this was changed to Pawn Stars to have more marketing appeal.
Both Rick Harrison and his father appeared on the show, with the latter being referred to as “The Old Man.” Rick’s son Corey, referred to as “Big Hoss” and his friend, Austin “Chumlee” Russell, also appeared as employees.
By January 2011, Pawn Stars was the History Channel’s highest-rated program. It was also the second-highest rated reality TV show, coming behind Jersey Shore.
The show had many seasons. Unfortunately, during the production of the 15th season, Richard Harrison Jr. died. He had Parkinson’s Disease.
Rick’s father’s death was not just a devastating blow to him and his family, but by this time ‘The Old Man’ had become a national treasure and fans through America and the world expressed their condolences to Rick on social media.
Rick Harrison Net Worth – Biography Published
In 2011, when Pawn Stars was going from strength to strength, Harrison published his biography entitled License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver.
On 26th June 2011, the book reached No. 22 on The New York Times Best Seller List.
Other TV appearances and Work
On 3rd November 2012, Rick Harrison, his son Corey and Chumlee appeared as themselves in an episode of iCarly, an American TV series.
Four days after this, Harrison appeared in “The Safe”, which was an episode of the American sitcom The Middle. He was an antique store owner in the show.
At the beginning of 2014, Harrison acquired the role of spokesperson for a men’s shaving product, the Micro Touch One Razor. He promoted this product in TV commercials.
The same year, Harrison, with Corey and Chumlee, starred in the History Channel’s spinoff game show Pawnography.
In this game show, the three Pawn Stars competed against other players who were trying to win items from the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop’s inventory as well as cash.
Family life and Personal Life
With Kim, his first wife, Rick Harrison had two sons Corey and Adam. With Tracy, his second wife, he fathered Jake.
While Corey has always worked alongside his father in the pawn shop (and starred in Pawn Stars), Adam turned to be a plumber after a stint at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop.
Adam just wasn’t interested in being in the show.
Rick Harrison’s second marriage also ended in divorce. However, in 2012, he got engaged to Deanna Burditt, herself twice divorced.
The couple married on 21st July 2013 at Laguna Beach, California. The ceremony was performed by Danny Koker – a car expert and star of Counting Cars. Chumlee was the ring bearer.
Rick married Deanna back in 2013
Rick Harrison is a supporter of Republican politicians. He supported Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Rick Harrison in the Present Day
In 2021, Harrison announced that his youngest son Jake would make his debut on the show Pawn Stars.
His first task on the show was to decide whether a Rolex watch was real – a task he successfully carried out.
Check out Rick’s obsession with watches and their history. Watch (no pun intended) until the end to see how to spot a fake Rolex.
Rick Harrison Quotes
Here are some of our favorite Rick Harrison Quotes – let us know if you have any others in the comments section below.
“I want to make coin collecting cool again.”
“I asked for a horse for Christmas, and I got one! It’s an adult horse. I didn’t want a 5-year-old, which is a teenager for horses. It has a beautiful gait. It’s the Cadillac of horses.”
“It’s like the golden rule in the pawn business: never cash a government check.”
We don’t teach kids how to think anymore.
We’re getting rid of the classics – high school is all about self-esteem.
Rick Harrison
“I bought a 1200-year-old Viking bracelet once.”
“I can make bourbon and Coke, those types of drinks… If the ingredients are named in the drink, I can make it.”
“I’m a nerdy guy who likes to read a lot.”
“Being healthy is part of the happiness of life.”
“Everyone likes to learn history. They just don’t like to hear it from a professor looking at notes. They like to hear it like it’s from their uncle, that’s how I explain history.”
“I’m just a normal guy and blue-collar historian, and people keep tuning in.”
“I was a businessman for a long time before I was a celebrity.”
When you’re the boss, you have no one else to turn to.
Rick Harrison
“It’s the weird stuff that makes great television.”
“For years, I pitched a reality show because I thought it would be good for business.”
Summary Rick Harrison Net Worth
- Rick Harrison is a fine example of a person who has accumulated wealth without finishing his schooling.
- Named after his father, Rick was born in North Carolina but moved to California as a young child. He subsequently moved to Nevada, where he has lived ever since.
- Rick has been married three times. He had two sons to his first wife and a third son to his second wife. He is now married to his third wife, Deanna.
- Rick and his father Richard Harrison Jr. first owned a second-hand store in Las Vegas, but their dream was to open a pawn shop.
- Once they obtained a license, they ran their Gold & Silver Pawn Shop close to the Las Vegas strip. This is where Rick Harrison net worth grew.
- Rick decided it would be good for business to pitch a reality show based on his pawn shop. Eventually, his dream came true, and the History Channel ran the series Pawn Stars.
- Pawn Stars starred Rick, his father, his son Corey and Corey’s friend “Chumlee.”
- Rick Harrison’s father passed away in 2018 after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
- In 2021, Rick’s youngest son Jake starred in his first episode. His middle son, Adam, is a plumber and has no interest in working in the pawn shop or starring in the show.
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