Longfellow Deeds je prijeten mladenič, ki živi preprosto, a srečno življenje v majhnem mestecu, kjer ima svojo picerijo. Vse se spremeni, ko mu podjetniški mogotec Chuck Cedar pove, da mu je dolgo izgubljeni sorodnik zapustil ogromno bogastvo. Skupaj z denarjem je Deeds podedoval tudi mrežo medijskih postaj, nogometno in košarkarsko moštvo ter zasebni helikopter. Mediji seveda takoj pograbijo vročo zgodbo o revežu, ki je postal bogataš. Prikupna novinarka Babe Bennett mora po ukazu šefa o Deedsu izbrskati kakšno umazano podrobnost. Sprva svojo nalogo vzame zelo resno, sčasoma pa se v Deedsa noro zaljubi.
When Longfellow Deeds, a small-town pizzeria owner and poet, inherits $40 billion from his deceased uncle, he quickly begins rolling in a different kind of dough. Moving to the big city, Deeds finds himself besieged by opportunists all gunning for their piece of the pie. Babe, a television tabloid reporter, poses as an innocent small-town girl to do an exposé on Deeds. Of course, Deeds' sincere naiveté has Babe falling in love with him instead. Ultimately, Deeds comes to find that money truly has the power to change things, but it doesn't necessarily need to change him.