Thanos Trading Stocks? Josh Brolin Reveals Trading Made Him Richer Than Acting
<p>In a revelation that might surprise Marvel fans, Josh Brolin—the man behind the iconic role of Thanos—says he made more money trading stocks than acting. During a candid interview with journalist Guy Raz, Brolin discussed how a stalled acting career led him to the stock market, and how discipline—not luck—turned investing into his most profitable venture.</p><p><br/></p><p>“I had children going to school and I just wasn’t making money, man,” Brolin admitted. “If you’re lucky enough to make 100,000 a year, which I wasn’t, then you’re clearing 30,000 after taxes and commissions.” Faced with mounting responsibilities and limited acting income, Brolin turned to stocks to make ends meet.</p><p><br/></p><p>His gateway into investing came through entrepreneur Brett Markinson, who introduced him to the technical side of the markets. That early mentorship opened the floodgates. “I just started asking him everything,” Brolin said, recalling how his curiosity drove him to learn the ins and outs of trading.</p><p><br/></p><p>Ironically, it was Brolin’s role in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps that connected him with actual financiers and billionaires. From there, he soaked up conversations about discipline, market psychology, and risk management—key lessons that later paid off.</p><p><br/></p><p>“I made more money than I had ever made acting for sure,” Brolin revealed. “It wasn’t just because I got lucky with one stock that went to the roof. I was very disciplined in the breaths of upward momentum.” He explained his method: buy when prices fall, sell when they climb—an old-school strategy that required focus and emotional control.</p><p><br/></p><p>Brolin eventually shifted from day trading to long-term investing. “If you do that, you have to be up at 4:30 every morning and know your basket,” he said. “It’s a full-time job.” While he no longer watches the markets minute-to-minute, he still applies the same level of scrutiny and discipline to his portfolio today.</p><p><br/></p><p>He may have played a galactic warlord obsessed with balance, but in real life, Brolin was simply trying to balance family, finances, and survival. “I knew I could figure financials out,” he said. “I didn’t do TV for 20 years, so again, for somebody who needs to provide for their family, there was still some version of integrity.”</p><p><br/></p><p>Turns out, even Thanos had a backup plan—and it involved candlesticks, not infinity stones.</p><p><br/></p><p>Traders in the house, what do you think about this? Does Thanos have better odds against the Avengers than in the Stocks Market? Let's have it. </p>
At the end of the month, we give out prizes in 3 categories: Best Content, Top Engagers and
Most Engaged Content.
Best Content
Top Engagers
Most Engaged Content
Best Content
We give out cash prizes to 7 people with the best insights in the past month. The 7 winners are picked
by an in-house selection process.
The winners are NOT picked from the leaderboards/rankings, we choose winners based on the quality, originality
and insightfulness of their content.
Top Engagers
For the Top Engagers Track, we award the top 3 people who engage the most with other user's content via
comments.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Engagers" tab on the rankings page.
Most Engaged Content
The Most Engaged Content recognizes users whose content received the most engagement during the month.
We pick the top 3.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Contributors" tab on the rankings page.
Here are a few other things to know for the Best Content track
1
Quality over Quantity — You stand a higher chance of winning by publishing a few really good insights across the entire month,
rather than a lot of low-quality, spammy posts.
2
Share original, authentic, and engaging content that clearly reflects your voice, thoughts, and opinions.
3
Avoid using AI to generate content—use it instead to correct grammar, improve flow, enhance structure, and boost clarity.
4
Explore audio content—high-quality audio insights can significantly boost your chances of standing out.
5
Use eye-catching cover images—if your content doesn't attract attention, it's less likely to be read or engaged with.
6
Share your content in your social circles to build engagement around it.
Contributor Rankings
The Rankings/Leaderboard shows the Top 20 contributors and engagers on TwoCents a monthly and all-time basis
— as well as the most active colleges (users attending/that attended those colleges)
The all-time contributors ranking is based on the Contributor Score, which is a measure of all the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
The monthly contributors ranking tracks performance of a user's insights for the current month. The monthly and all-time scores are calcuated DIFFERENTLY.
This page also shows the top engagers on an all-time & monthly basis.
All-time Contributors
All-time Engagers
Top Monthly Contributors
Top Monthly Engagers
Most Active Colleges
Contributor Score
The all-time ranking is based on users' Contributor Score, which is a measure of all
the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate your contributor score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
Subscriptions received
2
Tips received
3
Comments (excluding replies)
4
Upvotes
5
Views
6
Number of insights published
Engagement Score
The All-time Engagers ranking is based on a user's Engagement Score — a measure of how much a
user engages with other users' content via comments and upvotes.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate the Engagement Score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
A user's comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's upvotes
Monthly Score
The Top Monthly Contributors ranking is a monthly metric indicating how users respond to your posts, not just how many you publish.
We look at three main things:
1
How strong your best post is —
Your highest-scoring post this month carries the most weight. One great post can take you far.
2
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
We also look at the average score of all your posts. If your work keeps getting good reactions, you get a boost.
3
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
Posting more helps — but only a little.
Extra posts give a small bonus that grows slowly, so quality always matters more than quantity.
In simple terms:
A great post beats many ignored posts
Consistently engaging posts beat one lucky hit
Spamming low-engagement posts won't help
Tips, comments, and upvotes from others matter most
This ranking is designed to reward
Thoughtful, high-quality posts
Real engagement from the community
Consistency over time — without punishing you for posting again
The Top Monthly Contributors leaderboard reflects what truly resonates, not just who posts the most.
Top Monthly Engagers
The Top Monthly Engagers ranking tracks the most active engagers on a monthly basis
Here is what we look at
1
A user's monthly comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's monthly upvotes
Most Active Colleges
The Most Active Colleges ranking is a list of the most active contributors on TwoCents, grouped by the
colleges/universities they attend(ed)
Here is what we look at
1
All insights posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels)
2
All comments posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels) —
excluding replies
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Comments