RICK HARRISON BIOGRAPHY AND CONTROVERSIES

WHO IS RICK HARRISON

Known for his role as a co-owner of the ‘World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop’ in Las Vegas, Rick Harrison is a businessman and reality TV personality from the United States. The establishment of the pawn store was initiated by his father, Richard Harrison, and is presently under the whole administration of Harrison, his son, along with another business associate.

Even at a young age, Harrison’s epilepsy caused him to develop a strong addiction to reading, which ultimately led to his decision to run his own business. Harrison moved into the realm of television after the success of his pawn shop by participating in the reality show Pawn Stars on the History Channel. During the broadcast, his pawn store and the fascinating customers who frequented it were highlighted.

The nickname “The Spotter” was given to Rick Harrison as a result of his keen understanding of precious goods and his proclivity toward historical artifacts. Harrison does not consider ‘Gold & Silver’ to be a pawn business but rather a boutique that specializes in historical masterpieces because of this reason.

The Formative Years of Rick Harrison

• Birth and Childhood

In Lexington, North Carolina, on March 22, 1965, Richard Kevin Harrison was born to Richard Benjamin Harrison Jr., “The Old Man” and “The Appraiser,” and his wife Joanne Rhue Harrison. Richard served in the US Navy before he and his wife welcomed their son. His elder brother Sherry Joanne Harrison died when he was just six years old of age. Harrison has two more brothers named Christopher K. and Joseph Kent. The migration to San Diego by the family took place in 1967.Rick Harrison attended San Diego, California’s Taft Middle School throughout his middle school years. The severe seizures that afflicted him after his epilepsy diagnosis at age eight sometimes left him bedridden for weeks at a time. His lifelong love of reading began at that moment, and it would later help him immensely in his business endeavors.

John D. Fitzgerald’s The Great Brain series, in which the protagonist, a little boy of ten years old, is a con artist with multiple schemes to get money on his mind, was a significant source of inspiration for Harrison. When Harrison was in the tenth grade, he decided to quit school in order to launch a business that sold counterfeit ‘Gucci’ bags.

As a result of the failure of their real estate firm, his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in April of 1981. Harrison’s father established his first second-hand shop in Las Vegas, which eventually became their primary source of income and flourished until it became their sole enterprise.

A Review of Rick Harrison’s Career

Rick Harrison’s father started his first secondhand store in 1981, two years after the family had relocated to Las Vegas. When it first opened its doors on Las Vegas Boulevard, the Gold & Silver Coin Shop was a hole in the wall measuring 300 square feet. When Harrison was younger, he spent his days working in the store that his father owned. Cars were repossessed by him during the night.

In 1986, the shop relocated to a more spacious location in the central business district of Las Vegas. The Harrisons were unable to renew their lease on that location in 1988, which was a very unfortunate event. After that, they relocated the store to a brand new commercial building that was located on Las Vegas Boulevard. The idea of turning the coin shop into a pawnshop was something that Harrison and his father had discussed for a number of years. They had the impression that it was the next logical step in the development of their company.

However, this was not an easy task to accomplish because of a rule that was passed in Las Vegas in 1955. This law stipulated that the number of new licenses that could be issued to pawn shops was restricted using the population of the city. More than 640,000 people were living in the broader metropolitan region of Las Vegas by the year 1988.

As soon as the population of Las Vegas reached the next benchmark that opened up those licenses, Harrison would call the statistician of the city every week in order to apply for one of the city’s pawn licenses, which are extremely rare and much sought after. The Harrisons ultimately received their pawn license the next year, in 1989, after this event took place.

During the same year, Rick Harrison and his father opened the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, which was located not too far from the Las Vegas Strip district. Up until the year 2018, when his father passed away, they shared ownership of the shop. Around three million dollars was the amount that Harrison and his father were lending out annually by the year 2015. The Harrisons were able to generate approximately 700,000 dollars in income from the interest on the loans as a result of this.

When 2006 rolled around, the pawnshop had already established a strong reputation for selling one-of-a-kind sports memorabilia. It was also a safe sanctuary for gamblers who found themselves in a situation where they needed to pawn anything in order to purchase gas so that they could drive back to wherever they had come from.

After his pawnshop was featured in a documentary on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in 2001 and on the popular Comedy Central show Insomniac with Dave Attell in 2003, Harrison had spent four years trying to get people to make a television show about his business. With the help of the History Channel, the idea was developed into Pawn Stars, which became the show with the greatest ratings on the History Channel. Prior to the History Channel’s involvement, the idea was discussed on YouTube and on HBO. The first episode of Pawn Stars aired in July 2009, and as of June 2023, the show has had a total of 633 episodes and 21 seasons.

Among all of the shows that air on The History Channel, Pawn Stars is by far the most popular. In a manner that is exceedingly unprecedented for any television show, let alone a reality series, History has decided to renew the series in batches of eighty episodes. This is because the show is so popular. Alongside Austin “Chumlee” Russell, who was Rick Harrison’s boyhood closest buddy, Corey Harrison, Rick Harrison’s son, also works in the business today and can be seen on the show. As a result of his excellent eye for products that are undervalued, Rick Harrison is given the nickname “The Spotter” over the course of the show.

Rick Harrison is a supporter of libertarianism. Nevertheless, he has publicly supported Marco Rubio’s campaign for the presidency in 2016. Additionally, in the past, he has shown his support for Donald Trump. Under the auspices of the ‘CPAC’ press pool in 2018, he said that he was a Trump supporter.

• RICK HARRISON NET WORTH

The total amount of Rick Harrison’s wealth is nine million dollars.

Personal Aspect of Rick Harrison’s Life

Harrison, at the age of 17, fathered a child with his girlfriend, Kim. It was ultimately determined that the pregnancy would end in a miscarriage. The couple, on the other hand, did not get married until much later and on April 27, 1983, they welcomed their first child, a son named Corey. A short time after the birth of their second child, Adam, Harrison and Kim were no longer together.

Subsequently, Harrison encountered Tracy on a blind double date. After dating for a period of six months, they decided to move in together. Eight months later, they tied the knot and went on to have a son named Jake. The marriage between Harrison and Tracy also resulted in a subsequent divorce.

In the year 2012, Harrison announced his engagement to Deanna Burditt. On July 21, 2013, they tied the knot in Laguna Beach, which is located in the state of California. The ceremony was presided over by Danny Koker, an expert in automobiles.

• Real Estate

A well-known characteristic of Harrison is his lavish way of life. The home that he owns is located at 2556 Red Arrow Drive, in Summerlin, Nevada, and it is located in the gated neighborhood of the ‘Red Rock Estates’ within the ‘Red Rock Country Club’ that he also purchased in the year 2001. Harrison put his home at the Red Rock Country Club on the market for $3.99 million in the year 2019.

In 2001, the house that was 8,845 square feet in size was constructed. In 2016, he purchased the home and then proceeded to make modifications that cost approximately $600,000. Granite was used for the flooring of the formal sitting room. This granite was acid-washed, cut into planks, and set down in a manner similar to that of a hardwood floor. The total cost of this flooring was $45,000. The interiors were embellished with Jerusalem limestone which is worth more than a million dollars. Two bedrooms were located on the lower level of the house, while two bedrooms were located on the top level.

A fitness center that may also function as a bedroom was included in the house. Seven bathrooms were included in the house, as well as a home theater with twelve seats, a screen of 150 inches, and a curtain. The capacity of a wine cellar was greater than one thousand bottles. In addition to a central sound system, the house was equipped with an elevator, which allowed anyone with a phone to play music in any room.

• Charity Endeavors

Rick Harrison serves as both the spokesperson and a board member for a foundation that focuses on epilepsy. He gave the money that was made from the sale of the tiara that had been worn by former First Lady Ida McKinley to the organization known as the “Epilepsy Foundation of Nevada.” Someone in Mrs. McKinley’s family had sold him the tiara, and he had purchased it from them. In lieu of flowers, Harrison requested that anyone who attended his father’s funeral (also known as “The Old Man”) make a donation to the “Epilepsy Foundation.” According to Harrison, his father passed away on June 25, 2018.

• Controversies

Joanne Harrison, Rick Harrison’s mother, filed a lawsuit in 2018 following the passing of Richard Harrison, often known as “The Old Man,” in an effort to settle a disagreement regarding the ownership of their Las Vegas pawn store and the assets that belonged to the family. A claim was made that Rick Harrison had her sign over her 51% ownership in the company while she was hospitalized in the years 2000 and 2001. Joanne acquired Richard’s 49% stake in the pawn store after he passed away in 2018, according to the lawsuit.

However, Rick did not provide her with comprehensive paperwork on the business’s financial situation. An additional allegation that Joanne made was that she was unable to obtain a correct accounting of the more than half a million dollars in cash and silver that she claimed her husband had accumulated before to his passing. In her lawsuit, Joanne Harrison demanded that Rick Harrison be prohibited from using the cash that belonged to her, that she be awarded unspecified damages, and that a “constructive trust” be established over the property that she owned.

 

RELATED POSTS:

• RON DESANTIS 2024 – THE LATEST ABOUT RON DESANTIS’ LIFE
• MORGAN WALLEN: Morgan Wallen Songs, Amazing Life, Networth, Controversies