Rob Dyrdek is a name the skateboarding world won't forget. Neither will the reality TV world. He got his first skateboard from the other professional skateboarding genius, Neil Blender, at the age of 11 and left his home & school to achieve the dream of being a huge skateboarder. And boy did he not disappoint himself.
Born on June 28, 1974, he's known for his big roles on the reality TV screen with MTV's Rob & Big, which he did with his best friend & bodyguard, Christopher "Big Black" Boykin (sadly, he passed away in 2017), and Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. Those are the ones that collected him his big fortune.
Christopher met an untimely demise due to a stroke.
Source: Peter Kramer, Getty Images
That's not all, he's tried his hands-on entrepreneurship and succeeded, with stakes at various companies. He's moved on to act in movies as well, has several sponsorship deals to his name and set up so many records that might surprise the heck out of a normal person. All that is sure to bring in a lot of Benjamin Franklins.
Rob Dyrdek's $50 Million Net Worth Makes Him the Second Richest Skateboarder in the World with 21 Guinness World Records
Although he didn't earn every part of his fortune with skateboarding only, Rob Dyrdek's net worth amounts to $50 million. Only legendary Tony Hawk ($120 million) has more than him. Much of it is attributed to his sponsorship deals during his skateboarding career, the stakes. It is also fairly accumulated by his TV career on Ridiculousness (Vitaly Zdorovetskiy made it to the show on this past season), Rob & Big, and Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory. Aside from acting, he is also a producer and writer.
Watch: Some of the Best Skateboarding Tricks of Rob Dyrdek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQL-EBc0KCM
Granted Guinness World Record holders don't get paid to 'break' a record (they are known to have to pay the authority's commercial services instead), he has 21 records to his name. Some of them are reported to have been broken, but he's stopped his career already. Many of them were even first created by the skateboarding genius.
Sources of Income
All Things Skateboarding - Sponsorships, Ownerships, and Start-Up Businesses
The 45-year-old always had his interests in sports, but it was when he got that first skateboard from Neil Blender that really piqued his ambition. He was absolutely obsessed with it and didn't even study or sometimes eat. A year later, he received his first sponsor, from a company Neil himself was a member of. When Neil left the company and formed his own, Rob followed. Alien Workshop, thus, was Rob's first and only board sponsor. He once revealed they paid him a cheque of only $2 in 1991, but he stuck around because of their guarantee of $1000 a month when he moves to California. He hit paydirt.
At the age of 16 (1991), Rob turned pro and moved to California. The first business thing he did was Orion Trucks that offered T-shaped metal parts attached to the skateboard wheels. He did everything for the start-up that began in 1993, at the age of 18. It was launched only after a partnership with a manufacturer in San Diego that he established using only 0.5% of every sale before that. He walked away from it after a few years, unable to compete in the niche market.
He's tried and dusted many startups and business ventures.
Source: Grahm Bensinger
Since 1995, he got the chance to ride for the clothing line, Droors, now turned DC Shoes, involved in another skateboarder Danny Way. During the time with them, his entrepreneurial journey started with shoe designing that allowed him to launch various short-lived companies. It included skate shops and even a hip-hop record label. He founded the Rob Dyrdek Foundation in 2003 to build legal skate parks in smaller communities.
In 2010, with the help of his fellow professional skateboarder friends, he founded Street League Skateboarding (SLS), the first professional skateboarding league in the world. It was worth $1.6 million in 2011. The league also has its own spinoff subscription video network called ETN, made "by skateboarders for skateboarders". He purchased DNA Distribution, the holding company of Alien Workshop, but returned it back to the founders after it almost went out of existence in 2014 before being revived in 2016.
Check Out: Some Scenes Inside the Street League Skateboarding Competition
He founded SuperJacket Productions in 2013. It is housed by the Dyrdek Machine, founded in September 2017, as it does every one of his existing business ventures. He left his skateboarding career in 2016 as he did not renew his deal with DC shoes, after being with them for over 20 years, and gave up his ownership of the Alien Workshop in 2016.
Other Ventures
Dyrdek Machine builds, invests in and companies ranging from luxury brands, sports entertainment, consumer products, and spirits to innovative technologies. It had already launched six new brands in the first year with Ultracast, Fully immersive 360/VR live content platform; ETN, the first SVOD skateboarding network with all original programming; and Black Feather Whiskey already built, while Momentous, a high-performance nutrition company; CCCXXXIII, a luxury accessory line; and Outstanding Foods, plant-based innovative foods; launched later.
His 'Dyrdek Machine' houses all his business ventures.
Source: Dyrdek Machine Venture Studios
He invested in the UFC in 2016, is on the advisory board of Beach Whiskey, LLC. and is part of the investors at Beatbox Beverages and Stance. He owns Megahorse Racing, whose horses have raced in stakes including the Breeder's Cup. He also has stakes in Bill My Parents, ISX (Instant Scoring eXperience), and DTA Rogue Status. There are 18 or so holding companies housed under Dyrdek Machine, with four more in development until last year.
The Video Work with DC Shoes Got Him into Reality-TV
During the marketing campaigns for DC shoes early on, he made videos for them. The 2002 video involving a security guard when Rob skates got the attention of MTV. His first entry into the reality tv started with Rob & Big launching in 2006. While he didn't appear on all 32 episodes, that went on for three seasons with the final one being in 2008, he was the executive producer and writer for the ones he didn't appear in. The salary was $60,000 per episode.
Watch: The Video That Got Everyone Riled Up
A spinoff of his first show came out in February 2009, called Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory that included his Dyrdek Enterprise staff. He got a salary of $100,000 from the show's 73 episodes upto 2015, again as an actor in some, while an exec producer, creator and writer.
His next hit came with Ridiculousness in 2011, a show born from the idea of Vin di Bona's America's Funniest Home Videos. After the Season 13-14 merger earlier this year, it is set for another season merger this first week of September 2019. After ending the skateboarding career, he's been doing the show almost every week.
The only other thing he is more concerned about is his family life with wife Bryiana Noelle Flores, who he married in 2016, and his two kids, Nala Ryan Dyrdek (younger daughter), Kodah Dash Dyrdek (older son), living in Hollywood, California. She was named Playmate of the Month by Playboy Magazine in its September 2013 Issue. (The first date with her would've been and was expensive. He took her on a R-22 Robinson helicopter ride.)
Bryiana Won the 'World's Perfect Pageant' title in 2014.
Source: The Dyrdek Family
In addition to these three, Rob has been the actor, executive producer, host, creator and writer of a number of other shows like The Dude Perfect Show, Amazingness, Crashletes and so many others. Rob Dyrdek's Wild Grinders is a business venture which is an animated show that aired in Nickelodeon for four years from 2012-2015. It was loosely based on his life, and he voiced Lil Rob or Gene. Also, he's got a huge line of action figures and related accessories for kids and adults alike.
The Life of Luxury with Lavish Houses
In 2008, the retired skateboarder bought a 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom house in 2431 Apollo Dr., Los Angeles, California, for $2.459 million, after Rob & Big ended. He also had a Beverly Hills, 2,792 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, home during his time on Rob & Big, as he lived with Big Black during the filming.
Both the homes went up for sale in 2012. The former was listed for $40,000 more ($2.499 million) in May 2012 and the latter for $1.25 million in October 2012. Prior to listing the two houses up for sale, he had already bought a new 3,733 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a 3 car garage home in Hollywood Hills, above Laurel Canyon, for $2.5 million in June 2012.
In September 2015, Rob married Bryiana and it was time to move in the following year. He listed the Hollywood Hills West house for $3.495 million in late April 2016. After already making a $995,000 profit, it was sold for $3.575 million by the end of it, $80,000 more above asking price. It's not like he took all the profit; he had the mansion redecorated and remodeled for an indoor/outdoor living. Then his private life blinked out of publicity.
But the family again bought another home in 2018, but only moved back in October 2019 after all the remodeling was done. The 4-bedroom, nearly 7,000 sq. ft. house is located inside Mulholland Estates and was built in 1999, previously owned by now-deceased Howard Kaufman. He spent $6 million on it. The house was revealed on a Ridiculousness episode back in May.
Watch: The House Was Revealed Only Back in May
After they moved, documents also revealed he quietly bought a $9.9 million massive, vacant 3.1-acre lot just down the road in 2015. It still needs a little more time to complete a house in the lot, all ready for inviting the family to live amongst the likes of Kendall Jenner, Vanna White, Paris Hilton, Christina Aguilera, Big Sean, DJ Khaled and many more.
Cars? You Betcha
Remember the Chevy Sonic kickflip back in 2011? He stunned the world with the feat never done before, not with a skateboard, but a car. Granted it was a small Chevrolet, but enough to wow you. It is one of many cars the stuntman owns (or owned over the years of his career). A $10,000 black Tahoe/Chevy SUV was priced at $22,000 just because he presented it, a mere touch.
Watch: Hold Your Breath for a Freaking Kickflip with a Car (Check Out for the Largest Skateboard in the World Between the Ramps)
He bought a black truck he called a Street Jet for $65,000 which was featured on Rob & Big and later replaced it with an all-white 2008 Chevrolet Z-71 Tahoe. He is not into the cars with million included in the price tag. But he did own a Ferrari 458 Italia but sold it on account of his businesses needing the extra cash. But he earlier in February this year, he went back to the Ferrari showroom to get a Ferrari 488 Pista.
He had to say goodbye to a thing of beauty.
Source: Rob Dyrdek
The garage also includes an Aston Martin DB9, a Bentley Continental GT, 2007 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, the classic 1969 Pro Touring Camaro and a Campagna T-Rex (looks just as it sounds). Not to mention the Porsche Panamera Turbo he used as a daily car in 2010, until the Pista. His first car was a 1989 Honda Civic DX, and he learned to drive in a 1984 Honda Civic.
Speaking of his garage, he also possesses the largest skateboard ever in there, one of his world record holders!
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