The King of Pawn: Les Gold Net Worth, Business, and Family

Les Gold is a renowned pawnbroker, reality TV artist, media personality, and author. He is famous for his TruTV reality show, Hardcore Pawn. Hailing from a family of pawnbrokers, Les Gold net worth is around $5 million.

Let us dig deep into his life and find out more about his early life, family, career, and net worth.

How much money does this pawnbroker have?

Les Gold is a third-generation pawnbroker. Apart from this family occupation, he has a TV series to his credit. So, naturally, he made a fortune throughout his career.

But before we raise the curtain from the details of Leslie Les Gold net worth, let us read about his family, career, and other aspects of his life.

Les Gold Bio

Les Gold is a 73-year-old pawnshop owner from Detroit, Michigan. He has a shop, American Jewelry and Loan, in Detroit. He became a household name after he appeared in TruTV’s reality series Hardcore Pawn, which navigates his life and pawnshop.

In 1978, he opened his own pawn shop, American Jewelry and Loan. Gold tasted success with his business and gradually opened his stores at several locations. Currently, his business is spread across five locations. He has around two hundred employees and entertains thousands of customers every day.

After the success of his reality series, Gold also authored a book, “What It’s Worth: Business Wisdom from a Pawnbroker”.

Early life

As mentioned, Les Gold belonged to a family of pawnbrokers. He was born on June 20, 1950. The man’s birth name was Leslie Gold. His family was Jewish.

His grandfather had a company, Sam’s Loans, situated at Michigan Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. Les first sold an item at this shop when he was just 7.

When he reached 12, he jumped into the world of entrepreneurship. He started by buying and reselling pizzas to his students at school.

Education

Les Gold attended Hebrew School and later went to Oak Park High School in Michigan. No details are available regarding his higher education.

Career as a pawnbroker

Les started his career as a pawnbroker. He opened his first pawnshop, “American Jewelry and Loan” at 8-Mile Road, Oak Park, Michigan in 1978. After almost fifteen years of running the shop successfully, he relocated to Greenfield Road, Detroit, in 1993. It is the location of his current shop. He opened his second pawnstore in Pontiac.

Slowly and steadily, he excelled in his career and kept on making money. He opened multiple stores and hired more employees to look after his business.

As it has been a family-owned business, his current family is also deeply involved in the pawn store. His son, Seth, is the general manager, while Ashley, his daughter, is the assistant manager at his store.

Reality TV stint

Richard Dominick, a producer, was immediately fascinated by the advertisement of “American Jewelry and Loan” in 1998 and expressed his desire to make a reality television series with Gold’s family. After resistance from his son Seth, the family accepted the offer, and the rest is history.

The “Hardcore Pawn” reality series hit the small screens on August 16, 2010, and garnered two million viewers. It became the most-watched series premiere in the history of TruTV.

The show chronicled the day-to-day operations at the American Jewelry and Loan store and the lives of its owners and employees. It shows the varied shades of interactions between the staff members and their customers and the drama happening every moment within the store. The rivalry between Gold’s son Seth and daughter Ashley became one of the biggest highlights of the show.

The show became a big hit but also generated controversy. Many claimed that some parts of the show were scripted. But Les clarified that the series is raw and unbesmirched by any staged element. Everything shown in the series is the actual part of the day-to-day operations at their pawn store. It is more realistic than any other series on the same lines.

The show ran for nine seasons, with the third installment executive-produced by Les Gold and Seth Gold. The show came to an end after its ninth season in 2015. The last season was shown in August 2016 on television.

The Book he authored

Inspired by his own experiences, Les authored a book. He released his autobiography titled For What It’s Worth: Business Wisdom from a Pawnbroker, on 1^st June 2013. Penguin/Portfolio published the book.

In his book, Les talked about his experience of running a successful pawnstore and shared some tips on starting a pawnshop. He mentioned the details of how he started his business and how any individual can think the way a pawnbroker thinks.

The book tasted success and made it to the New York Times Best Seller list at number four in the How-to, Advice, as well as Miscellaneous category. It was ranked eighth in the category of Hardcover Business Books.

Les Gold net worth

As Les Gold is a famous TV personality, there is always a debate around Les Gold net worth.

Les Gold has had a fulfilling career, be it a pawnbroker or TV personality. Even his first book proved his prowess as an author. He made a fortune through all these ventures.

According to sources, Les Gold net worth 2023 stands at $5 million. His wealth comprises the money he made through his pawn stores, reality TV series, other TV appearances, and his book.

There is no information about Les Gold net worth 2021, as well as Les Gold net worth 2020.

Personal life

Les Gold married Lili in 1975. The couple has two children- a daughter, Ashley Broad, and a son, Sethain Gold.

Ashley is a producer and a businesswoman, whereas Seth is a TV producer, businessman, and writer.

Physical appearance

Les Gold is a charismatic TV personality. He is tall and handsome.

Gold is 6 feet 2 inches (1.87 m or 187 cm) tall and weighs around 185 lbs (84 kg). He has brown eyes and gray hair.

Philanthropic work

Gold made a great deal of money throughout his career as a pawnbroker, reality TV star, and author. Les Gold net worth is estimated to be $5 million.

Les believes in giving back to the society. He supports the THAW Fund (The Heat And Warmth Fund), which supports local families by paying their energy bills.

He also arranged a party in his pawn store to raise funds. The “Hardcore THAW” event managed to raise over $40,000.

The news about his death

The news of Les Gold’s death sent shockwaves across the United States of America. On April 9, 2023, news surfaced that Les Gold had died.

A TikTok user, @thecomelis, shared a clip with the caption, “R.I.P Les Gold 1950-2023”. The video went viral within moments and garnered 210k views. Another post on Twitter mentioned the same with a link to a CBS story.

The fake news spread like wildfire, arousing grief among the fans of this famous pawnbroker. Soon, Seth Gold’s post on TikTok put a full stop to this fake news. On April 10, 2023, Seth posted a video on TikTok with a caption mentioning that this news was fake.

Les Gold is alive and healthy.

Les Gold on social media

Gold is a famous TV personality, and so, he has a massive fan following on social media platforms as well. He has a strong social media presence and posts actively across various social media channels, including Twitter and Instagram.

On Instagram, Les has 40.2k followers. He joined Twitter in January 2011 and has 60.3k followers on this micro-blogging site.

His page on Facebook has 194k followers.

Here are the details about his social media handles.

Interesting facts about Les Gold

• Gold’s grandfather’s pawnshop, which is defunct now, was renovated into a pawn shop-themed restaurant, Gold Cash Gold, in 2014. It closed in 2020.
• The first American Jewelry and Loan was located at the Green Eight Shopping Center, 8 Mile Road, Oak Park. Les Gold later moved to Greenfield Road.

Final thoughts

Les Gold was born with an acumen for business. With his sharp business sense, he turned his family business into a multi-million empire. He multiplied his wealth manifolds and lived up to the name of his family.

The most sought-after pawnbroker, there is much to learn from his life and business acumen.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Who is Les Gold?

Les Gold is an American pawnbroker, reality TV artist, media personality, and author.

2. When was Les Gold born?

Les Gold was born on June 20, 1950.

3. What is Les Gold’s age?

Les Gold is 73 years old.

4. What is Les Gold’s occupation?

Les Gold is a pawnbroker. He owns American Jewelry and Loan, a pawnstore in Michigan. He also appeared in the reality TV series, “Hardcore Pawn”.

5. Why is Les Gold famous?

Les Gold is a third-generation pawnbroker. He is famous for his TruTV reality series, “Hardcore Pawn”, which chronicles the life of his family and business.

6. Where does Les Gold live now?

Les Gold lives and works in his hometown, Michigan.

7. Who is Les Gold’s wife?

Lili Gold is Les Gold’s wife. They married in 1975.

8. Does Les Gold have children?

Les Gold has two kids, Ashley Broad and Seth Gold.

9. What is Les Gold net worth?

Les Gold net worth 2023 is estimated to be $5 million.

10. What is Les Gold’s height?

Les Gold is 6 feet 2 inches (1.87 m or 187 cm) tall.

11. What is Les Gold’s weight?

Les Gold weighs 189 pounds (86 kg).

12. Is Les Gold on Instagram?

Yes, Les Gold has an active social media presence. His Instagram handle is @Igoldhcp. He has 40.2k followers.

13. Is Les Gold on Twitter?

Yes, Les Gold uses Twitter. He has 60.3k followers. His Twitter handle is @lesHCP.

14. Is Les Gold dead?

Fake news circulated about his death on April 9, 2023. But Les Gold is alive and healthy.

15. What is the name of Les Gold’s book?

Les Gold launched his autobiography on June 1, 2013. The name of his book is “For What It’s Worth: Business Wisdom from a Pawnbroker”.