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.

Lil' Wayne's New Skate Park

Yup, you read it right, Rapper, Designer, Entrepreneur and now Skateboarder Lil' Wayne has opened a skate park in his home town of New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward, Louisiana. Lil' Wayne's "DEWeezy Skatepark" is intended to be a beacon of hope and a rebirth for the community in an area that's seen little growth or rejuvenation since 2005, when it was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In an interview at the park's opening, Lil' Wayne told The Associated Press, "I just wanted to help out my city, help out the people and the kids and give them something to do, something they haven't done before. It's always good to learn something new." Professional skateboarder and this year's X Games gold medalist Paul Rodriguez was on hand, along with fellow Mountain Dew teammate Theotis Beasley to help commemorate the park's opening and to wow local kids with their bag of tricks, skating the park alongside novice skater Lil' Wayne for the crowd of spectators. The skatepark was designed and built by veteran park builders California Skateparks. The design mirrors the local geographic attributes of the neighborhood, with the quarterpipes at either end of the skatepark symbolizing the Mississippi River and the Bayou Bienvenue, and a line running through the middle of the park representing Caffin Avenue. The DEWeezy Skatepark is named after Lil' Wayne's Trukfit clothing line, which launched at the Agenda Trade Show in January, in addition, Lil' Wayne's line of sneakers through Supra debuted in August at the Project trade show. Having recently appeared on the cover of skateboarding's biggest mail-order catalog, alongside some of the most prominent pros in the industry, Lil' Wayne appears to be carving out his place within the skateboarding market. From the videos the park seems pretty legit. Hand rails, hubbas, stairs and flats rails. It almost seems like Wayne did his research on this one. either way check it out and let us know what you think. You can read more Here and see some actually interview and skate footage Here Be sure to give us some feedback about how you feel about Wayne skating, what he's doing for his community, the Truckfit line, and the skate park project as a whole, we look forward to hearing from you. - The Philly Skater Over n' Out.