How Did Storage Wars' Barry Weiss Make His Fortune?
Barry Weiss was originally a part the cast of "Storage Wars" for its first four seasons, alongside present-day stalwarts like Brandi Passante and Darrell Sheets. Before long, Weiss left "Storage Wars" in advance of Season 5. Subsequently, he led a spinoff titled "Barry'd Treasure," but that only lasted for a single season, meaning that his "Storage Wars" tenure effectively ended after his spinoff's conclusion in 2014.
During his initial "Storage Wars" run, Weiss was behind his fair share of memorable moments. For example, in what was Weiss' most bizarre find on "Storage Wars," he purchased the contents of one particular storage locker in order to secure an odd wooden sculpture of a human head. In the end, it turned out to be a valuable work of art, and he decided to keep it in his own personal collection. Weiss' strangest guests on "Storage Wars," meanwhile, were a pair of psychics he enlisted in Season 1 to attempt to help him supernaturally identify the contents of a storage locker before he bid on them.
Fortunately for fans of his idiosyncrasies, Weiss returned to the show in 2021 for Season 13. Both viewers new and old have likely noticed that Weiss began as a storage locker buying amateur, but nevertheless possesses enough capital to invest significantly in this business. For those wondering, then, here's how Weiss made his initial fortune.
Barry Weiss helped run a family business importing and exporting produce
In 2011, shortly after "Storage Wars" debuted, AOL TV — which no longer exists, but can be viewed as an archived webpage — published an interview with Barry Weiss in which he happened to reveal how he made money prior to buying and selling the contents of storage lockers on TV.
"I was in the produce business for 20‑25 years, and I retired about four years ago," Weiss said, explaining how he saved enough money to eventually bid on and collect valuables. "I owned a produce company, and we exported and imported, my brother and myself. I did that for years."
According to his time frame, Weiss ceased working in the produce industry around 2007. The company he ran alongside his brother appears to be called Northern Produce, and according to posts on its Facebook page, lasted through at least 2014. However, the page went dark that year, and currently links to a defunct website, suggesting that the company continued to exist for another seven years or so after Weiss left before folding.
While Weiss may not work in the produce business anymore, he still seems to have access to a considerable fortune. TMZ reported that when he returned to "Storage Wars" in 2021, for example, he arrived in a 1939 automobile equipped with a flamethrower exhaust pipe, effectively announcing that the Weiss fans enjoyed from earlier seasons was back for more.