It’s hard to find a person on the planet who hasn’t heard of Brad Pitt. The old heartthrob has been a household name since the ‘90s, known as much for his high-profile romances as his gritty leading man roles. But what many people may not know is that the Fight Club star has a younger brother who is just as successful as he is. Here’s the inside scoop on Brad Pitt’s brother, Doug Pitt.
The Pitt Brothers Shared A Happy Childhood In Missouri
Brad Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Soon after his birth, Brad moved with his parents—William, a trucking business owner, and Jane, a school counselor—to Springfield, Missouri. In 1966, the Pitts welcomed Brad’s younger brother, Douglas Mitchell, into the world. In 1969, a third sibling, Julie Neal, was born.
As the children of two devout Southern Baptists, the Pitt siblings had a modest upbringing and spent much of their time outdoors. “We grew up surrounded by cornfields—which is weird because we always had canned vegetables,” Brad Pitt said in a 2017 interview with GQ. “I never could figure that one out! Anyway, ten minutes outside of town, you start getting into forests and rivers and the Ozark Mountains. Stunning country. I grew up in caves. We had a lot of caves, fantastic caverns.”
While Brad left home to pursue a career in acting, Doug set his sights on becoming a businessman. Today, the in Springfield with his wife of more than 30 years, Lisa. The couple has three grown children, Landon, Sydney, and Reagan. And while Doug may not be a household name, he’s just as accomplished as his famous older brother.
Doug Has Founded Multiple Successful Businesses
In 1991—while Brad was getting noticed for this star-making turn in Thelma & Louise—Doug Pitt was kicking off his career as a businessman and entrepreneur. He founded a computer company called ServiceWorld, which he grew successfully for more than two decades. He sold the company in 2013 and a year later founded a the Pitt Development Group, a real estate firm, which he still heads today. The business began as a developer of apartment complexes and strip malls and now focuses on medical office space and land development.
In 2017, Doug bought ServiceWorld back and renamed it the Pitt Development Group. “It’s a little surreal, but it’s a good thing,” Doug said about taking control of the company again. “Obviously I’m sentimental to something I started out of thin air 26-year ago, so to have some control over that, that’s neat.”
The entrepreneur added that his goal in the acquisition was to refocus the company’s customer service practices. “Our industry has gotten a little lazy and we’re not as attentive to the customer needs and unfortunately the customer is not getting the best value out of that. We want to change that to the way we did things before.”
Doug has been very successful in the business world, with a reported net worth of $240 million. That’s not much less the $300 million Brad Pitt is estimated to be worth.
He’s Known For His Philanthropy
Charity Begins At Home
In addition to being a shrewd businessman and entrepreneur, Doug Pitt uses his wealth to give back to the community. He’s the founder of Care to Learn, a non-profit dedicated to helping impoverished children in his home state of Missouri. Serving more than 38 school districts, the foundation has met the hunger, health, and hygiene needs of over 1,500,000 students since its founding in 2008.
“It can be a $3 meal. It can be a $3,000 hearing aid,” Doug told the Spingfield News Leader about the wide variety of services the organization offers to children in need. “If it’s health, hunger, and hygiene, we ask two questions: Is it keeping a child out of a classroom or is it disrupting the classroom experience? If the answer is yes, we fund it.”
International Charitable Work
Doug is a board member and director of WorldServe International, a non-profit that provides clean drinking water to communities in East Africa. He has spearheaded many initiatives through the organization, including raising more than $750,000 for clean water projects in Tanzania by cycling down Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of climbers. In addition to becoming the first American on record to mountain-bike down Kilimanjaro, he was named Goodwill Ambassador for the United Republic of Tanzania.
“The ride from the summit of Uhuru peak along the ridge to Stella Point took just minutes, but has to be one of the most magical rides in existence with the famous glaciers of Kilimanjaro below you—amazing doesn’t cover it,” Pitt said of the adventure. “I would do it all again to provide clean water, a luxury we as Americans sometimes take for granted.”
Doug has served as a board member for many other prestigious organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Red Cross, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. He’s also a past Chairman of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, and has been honored as a Rotary Volunteer of the Year and a Humanitarian of the Year by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. In 2019, he was inducted into the 2019 Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame.
He’s Got A Great Sense Of Humor
Despite all his success, it can’t be easy being the younger brother of one of the most envied stars in Hollywood. But Doug Pitt takes it all in stride. He’s learned to poke fun at his role as Brad Pitt’s sibling, starring as the “second most-famous Pitt” a hilarious 2012 ad for Virgin Mobile Australia.
He also appeared in a 2019 ad for Mother’s Brewing’s Doin’ Good orange wheat ale, parodying his brother’s famous role in the hit thriller Se7en.
The 55-year-old philanthropist also admits to having fun with the tabloids when they contact him with questions about his superstar sibling. After years of sticking with a simple “no comment” statement, Doug says he now feeds the press made up stories just to see what will actually get printed. “And I’ve started taking photographs of them, and they don’t like it,” he added in a 2014 interview with St, Louis magazine. “I just started that recently. Doing things more on my terms.”
As for his true feelings about his brother, Doug says he’s thrilled for his success, even if he does tire of talking about it. “I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Doug told St. Louis magazine. “I think the monotony of it is, I’ve answered the same questions now for 25 years. ‘How is he doin’?’ ‘Do you see him?’… I understand their excitement, but if you were asked every week for 25 years the same question, your eyes would kind of glaze over.”
Doug also says he doesn’t envy Brad’s role as a tabloid target, though he thinks his big brother handles the intense media attention pretty well. “Brad does a good job of staying normal,” Doug told St. Louis magazine. “His way of handling all the publicity is, he doesn’t read it. He doesn’t look. I’ll ask him about something, and he’ll have no idea what I’m talking about.”