 Eckert was born in Philadelphia to wealthy real estate developer John Eckert, and was raised in a large house in Philadelphia's Germantown section.During elementary school, he was driven by chauffeur to William Penn Charter School, and in high school joined the Engineer's Club of Philadelphia and spent afternoons at the electronics laboratory of television inventor Philo Farnsworth in Chestnut Hill.He placed second in the country on the math portion of the College Board examination.