Richie Rich is the world's richest boy, the son of billionaire businessman and philanthropist Richard Rich. Richie has only his loyal butler Herbert Cadbury as a companion, and lacks any friends his own age. At a dedication to the reopening of United Tool, a factory Richard recently acquired (intending to modernize the factory and give it away to the workers as a token of goodwill) Richie encounters a group of sandlot kids playing baseball. Unfortunately, before he is able to talk to them, the overly-strict head of security, Ferguson, stops Richie and sharply pulls him away. Cadbury, ever the "third parent", reprimands Ferguson for his excessively-physical treatment of Richie.