When Jerry was 14 years old, he ran from home, and lived in orphanages and boarding schools, until he was 18. Then, he was deemed old enough to take his life in his own hands. Battered by his past, he lived on the streets of Amsterdam, drinking and smoking up too much, and living from one day to another. He tried to get out of this existence, but the procedure was very daunting.

Jerry Winkler (Image from Jerry Winkler’s Twitter Account)

When he demanded a government uitkering (financial aid for the unemployed), he was told that he had to wait 4-6 weeks until he could receive it. In the meantime, he was supposed to sleep at a specific place – on the streets, in a park… The government agency would check that he was there now and then. If he was not, the procedure would start over again.

Of course, when Jerry was offered a bed by a friend, or a better sleeping place than the bench in the park, he would go. And sometimes, he had to reapply for that uitkering.

Another difficulty for him was that living on the streets would not yield him much respect. Everyone looked down on him, and he received no help from his family, but from his brother and his brother’s wife.

However, then something crazy happened. He already knew that his father was not his real father. Though who his real father was, was a mystery. Until a DNA test showed that he was the son of Alfred Winkler, a passed away millionaire businessman. When he died, he persisted that he was childless. However, after a stepdaughter of his demanded that his body was buried up again, a tooth was taken to determine his DNA. She turned out not to be his daughter, but Jerry was. And overnight, he went from uitschot op straat (scum of the streets) to millionair (millionaire).

At least, that was the sensational story that came out first. However, Alfred Winkler left all his money to a foundation, and Jerry was no official heir of his. The foundation still exists. It agreed to support Jerry’s foundation for helping people on the streets.

As he said many times, it was not the money that he was looking for, but his father. He claims that he would give everything just to be able to talk to his father. He said that money does not make happy, but that people make each other happy. That is what he learned from the years he lived on the streets. And that is what he is now trying to pass on.

Ellen van Rijn wrote the book “Overnight Millionaire” about his story, and his story is also in the works for a movie! At least, that was the plan. The announcement for the movie came already in 2011, but still there is no movie…

Jerry Winkler at RTL Late Night, telling about his story: