He stopped needing Hollywood a decade ago, but Hollywood's problems keep finding him anyway.
At a glance
- Known for
- *That '70s Show*, *Punk'd*, and tech investing through Sound Ventures
- Before fame
- Studying biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa to help cure his twin brother's heart condition
- Off-screen
- His firm Sound Ventures' $30 million OpenAI bet reportedly grew to $1.3 billion
Part of That '70s Show featuring Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, and Wilmer Valderrama.
Rise to Fame
A biochemical engineering student trying to cure his twin brother's heart defect doesn't usually end up on a sitcom. But a model scout spotted Kutcher at The Airliner bar in Iowa City, he won a local modeling competition, and within months he was doing Calvin Klein shoots in New York. He dropped the degree and moved to LA, where he landed That '70s Show almost immediately.
The role of Michael Kelso, TV's most lovable idiot, ran eight seasons and made him inescapable. Punk'd followed in 2003, a show he co-created for MTV that turned celebrity humiliation into appointment television. It peaked at 7.4 million viewers and essentially invented the prank format that YouTube would strip-mine for the next decade.
In the Spotlight
The tech pivot is the real story. In 2010, Kutcher co-founded A-Grade Investments, pooling $30 million with Guy Oseary and Ron Burkle to bet on Airbnb, Uber, and Spotify. The fund returned roughly $250 million, which made acting optional. Sound Ventures, his follow-up firm, manages over $1 billion in assets.
In 2023, he and Mila Kunis wrote character letters for That '70s Show co-star Danny Masterson after his rape convictions, calling him 'a role model.' That's a hard sell from the guy who co-founded Thorn, an anti-trafficking nonprofit whose software helped identify nearly 15,000 child victims. He resigned as board chair within weeks. The investment returns are real. The judgment calls are a different portfolio.
Side Notes
In 2001, he showed up for a date with Ashley Ellerin, looked through her window, saw what he thought was red wine on the floor, and left. It was blood. Ellerin had been murdered by serial killer Michael Gargiulo, later convicted and sentenced to death. Kutcher testified at the 2019 trial.
Around 2019, a rare form of vasculitis knocked out his vision, hearing, and ability to walk for about a year. He didn't go public until 2022, casually mentioning it on Running Wild with Bear Grylls and saying he was 'lucky to be alive.' For a guy who built his public image on being the easygoing, good-looking one in the room, the private reality has been considerably darker.