In a recent story on the CEOWorld.biz website, the entrepreneurial spirit of actor turned mega-investor Ashton Kutcher was traced to… the purchase of a snowmobile as a young teenager!
Originally from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the now-43-year-old Kutcher first made it big as an actor in 1998 when he played Michael Kelso on the “That 70s Show” sitcom. A bunch of other TV and movie opportunities have followed – as well as some high-profile marriages to the likes of Demi Moore and Mila Kunis.
Aside from acting, modeling and producing, however, Kutcher is also known as a bit of a serial investor and entrepreneur. High-profile investments include Skype, Airbnb and Foursquare. He also worked for Lenova launching Ooma and has been an investor in everything from the Dolce Italian restaurant chain to Veldskoen shows. And, of course, he’s been on Shark Tank. In fact, his net worth is estimated at upwards of $200 million.
All of this investing prowess has allowed Kutcher to avoid being typecast after playing dumb, horny and stoned teenagers in his first acting roles (aside from “That 70s Show,” his first notable movie role was in “Dude, Where’s My Car?”). But the CEOWorld site said it all started with the sled purchase – a fact it apparently gleaned from an interview Kutcher originally did with a blog called Grow.
“At the age of 13 he bought his first snowmobile,” the CEOWorld website said in a profile on Kutcher, mentioning that he mowed lawns and washed dishes to gain the cash. “He worked after school and on the weekends for a year and a half, so he raised $ 1,400 to buy the snowmobile. From a young age he seemed not afraid of hard work and was willing to work hard to make money.”
Doing the math, we would have been 13 in 1991… when $1,400 wouldn’t have bought any new iron but it would have gotten you a fairly nice sled on the used market. If any of our east-central Iowan readers have any memories of him bouncing along the local ditches on a mid-to-late 80s sled, let us know.