Rob Dyredek giving Skaters a Bad Rap?

Sell out. or Enterprising Genius?

Our beloved Rob Dyrdek has gone from Alien work shop / DC protégé to MTV object of obsession. He currently has three reality TV shows on the Air, all on the same network. MTV. Rob Dyrdeck has a networth of over $15 Million according to http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/skateboarders/rob-dyrdek-net-worth/. While this pales in significance to established reality Tv junkies such as Paris Hilton’s $100 Million dollar estimate, and does beat global super annoyance Snooki’s net worth of $4 Million dollars ( $150,000 an episode can you believe it? ), and doesn’t make at a dent at wild boy Bam Margera’s net worth of $45 Million, one can’t  help but wonder if he’s sold out to some extent; trading the deck for the lime light. After Rob and Big started, Rob was hardly seen skating until the 2011 Alien Workshop film Mind Field. Even in the show it seemed more focused on poorly scripted humor and antics than actual skate board culture ( though it was immensely entertaining) .  As time went on Rob and Big came to an end and Rob Dyrdeks fantasy factory began. And this was wonderful I mean skaters rejoiced. The setting was a private warehouse that Rob had transformed into a private skate plaza. It was beautiful and skater fans everywhere rejoiced thinking that they’d actually see some skating happening. However we were again disappointed. As the seasons went on the episodes became less focused on rob skating the amazing fantasy factory and more on how he can almost destroy it, and how many time he can launch himself and others into the ball pit and cause turmoil among his peers. The actual skating In the show was reduced to ten second montages between scenes, and some of the skaters in the montages aren’t Rob Dyrdek . The nail in the coffin is his newest show ridiculousness where the only skating is of young kids nearly killing themselves and Rob and his cronies laughing at their misfortune. I mean it’s a funny show but so many of these lazy internet TV shows have popped and seeing how Rob Dyrdeck showed no hesitation in jumping on the band wagon,  it seems that Rob is more focused on getting his name and his brand maximum exposure at the cost of losing his core skater fan base. But I can understand, with break through entrepreneur  / skaters like Stevie Williams  and Andrew Reynolds who both keep their personal financial situation under tight wraps despite their many assets, Rob must feel a bit of “friendly competition” from the guys making more bank who maintain a strong skater fan base =P .

Rob Dyrdeck, $15 Million Dollar Man

For those of you who have been living under a rock, Rob Dyrdek is an MTV reality star and entrepreneur who has amassed an impressive $15 million net worth according to several celebrity outlets as of Oct. 2012. Born in Ohio on June 28, 1978, Dyrdek left his home at the age of 16 to become a professional skateboarder., "I was a pretty driven young man. I was so focused on becoming a pro skateboarder. I would sit in school and think about all the tricks I was going to do, then I’d get out of school and skate until they made me come inside." At the age of 12, Rob acquired sponsorship from the same company Neil Blender rode for and began his skateboarding career. A few years later, Dyrdek and Blender quit their board sponsor and created Alien Workshop – Rob’s current board company. At the age of 16, Dyrdek decided to forgo his senior year of high school and instead moved to Southern California to pursue his professional skate career. Soon after moving, Dyrdek began to ride for Droors Clothing (now known as DC Shoes), where he also began his exploring entrepreneurship through shoe design. This led Dyrdek to launch various short-lived companies, including a hip-hop record label and a skate shop. But that was only the beginning. Dyrdek first starred in an MTV reality series, entitled Rob & Big (aired November 2006 to April 2008), with his best friend and bodyguard Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, as well as his cousin, Chris "Drama" Pfaff and friend Rashawn "Bam Bam" Davis. After three seasons Boykin chose to leave the show when his longtime girlfriend had a baby. In February 2009 Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, featuring Dyrdek, Pfaff, and his Dyrdek Enterprise staff, was first aired. The "Fantasy Factory" is a converted warehouse where Dyrdek runs his many entrepreneurial ventures. It also features a large indoor skate plaza, Rob's personal office with "bat cave" parking garage, a foam pit, and numerous basketball hoops. He also built a "hands of God" music studio for his cousin "Drama" Pfaff inside the factory. During the course of the first season, he also opened his first SafeSpot SkateSpot with the sponsorship of Carl's Jr. At the grand-opening, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rode with Dyrdek on the world's largest skateboard. Fantasy Factory has aired five seasons so far and the current cast of the show includes Dyrdek, Chris "Drama" Pfaff, Big Black, Scott "Big Cat" Pfaff (Drama's brother), Chanel West Coast, and Sterling. Dyrdek was also featured in the video games skate., and Skate 2 (which also featured "Big Black"). During the days of Rob & Big, the two were featured in an episode where they were actually going to the EA building to shoot for the game. In Skate 2, the player is able to purchase an early version of the Fantasy Factory on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store as an add-on, allowing the player to skate within the factory premises. Dyrdek then made a movie entitled "Street Dreams" in 2009. During his career, Dyrdek has broken an astonishing twenty one individual Guinness World skateboarding records including ; Dyrdek's personal bests (some of which have been broken since) include: Consecutive front-side ollies: 46 (2007, WR) Ollie big spins: 12 (2007, WR) Consecutive nollie kickflips: 73 (2007, WR) 360-degree kickflips in one minute: 12 (2007, WR) Heel flips in one minute: 15 (2007, WR) Consecutive ollies: 215 (2007) Nollie kickflips in one minute: 22 (2007, WR) Longest stationary manual: 49 seconds (2007, WR) Switch frontside kickflips in one minute: 9 (2007, WR) Longest 50-50 rail grind: 100 feet 5.75 inches (30.62 m) (2007, WR) Longest board slide: 100 feet 5.75 inches (30.62 m) (2007, WR) Highest skateboard ramp jump into water: 10 feet 8 inches (3.29 m) (2007, WR) Rob Dyrdek Salary How much does Rob Dyrdek make per episode of Rob and Big? $60,000 One can only assume that Fantasy Factory and Ridiculouslness only raked in more for our renascence man. As for whats next for Rob he has a new skate part in Alien Workshop that was released in 2011, and says he plans to continue skating as well as expand his empire, changing the lives of millions of children around the world via skate boarding.