A-list actor Ashton Kutcher reveals why he supports services like Airbnb and Uber

HE’S known for being a joker, but Ashton Kutcher has also got some serious smarts. He opens up about some of his best investments.

A-list actor Ashton Kutcher invested in Uber and Airbnb five years ago. Picture: Frazer Harrison Source: Getty Images

THERE is one Hollywood hunk who is usually just known for being the funny guy.

But Ashton Kutcher, one very successful A-list actor, has got a lot more going on behind his charm and good looks.

GQ magazine has interviewed Kutcher exclusively about how he has survived as a film star and a billion-dollar player in the tech market.

It all started about five years ago when the Hollywood heart-throb decided to invest in some tech companies, two of which were Airbnb and Uber.

Those two services have taken off in recent years and Kutcher tells GQ about why they are criticised so harshly.

He said Airbnb and Uber disrupted the market because they were great and powerful and grew at a rapid rate, drawing attention towards them.

“Any time you have a company that is growing quickly and is impeding upon somebody else’s business, you’re going to have people that are scared s---less and want to do everything they can to trash those businesses because they’re cutting into their profit, their margins and their business,” he told GQ.

The new issue of GQ will be out March 14.

Kutcher said competitors didn’t warm up to services like Airbnb and Uber because they thought the businesses were unfair.

“A lot of companies relative to Uber and Airbnb, and plenty of the other companies (Sound Ventures) we’ve since invested in, the minute somebody else starts beating them, they go, ‘you’re playing unfair’,” he said.

“Then they start lobbying city council members, lobbying politicians, to regulate these companies.

“But the bottom line is, I’m sure Goliath was pretty p---ed when he got beat by David — and what happens is these little companies that are smarter, faster, more nimble, which provide a better customer experience, they take business share.

“I don't think they’re going out soliciting any of this bulls---t regulation that comes down on them — all they’re doing is providing an extraordinary consumer experience and kicking somebody else’s a---.”

Kutcher has a lot of projects on the boil currently, and GQ spoke about his latest new Netflix series The Ranch, which premiers in April.

It is about a former semi-professional footballer returning home to help run the family business, a Colorado ranch, with his brother.

He’ll reappear on screen with an old co-star from That 70s Show, Danny Masterson, who played the bong-loving character Steven Hyde.

Australia was actually in the spotlight for a moment during one of these new episodes, where he mocked one of our country’s greatest loves — ugg boots.

GQ used that as an opportunity to grill him about what he thinks it takes to be an Aussie. He was however quick to defend the woollen warmers and said he even owned a pair.

“They’re like preferred movie-set wear,” he said.

He then commits an Aussie cardinal sin when he gets the name wrong of one of our most loved froths.

He talks about how in America, Fosters is advertised as Australia’s main beer but he said he knew better and that “BV” was what Australians drink.

GQ was quick to tell him it’s actually “VB” but he went on the say he couldn’t find a Fosters anywhere in the country when he visited.

Kutcher also said Australia was known for its top quality beef, which he became aware of through one of the many Outback Steakhouse restaurants scattered through the United States.

He also doesn’t make it through the interview without saying “crikey”.

Kutcher opens up more about his life in the GQ March/April issue, which hits newsstands on March 14.

Originally published as A-list actor Ashton Kutcher reveals why he supports services like Airbnb and Uber