Paul Teutul Jr. has made quite a name for himself as one of the leading stars of American Chopper and its spin-offs. In all, Teutul Jr.’s net worth is around $2 million, though that fluctuates depending on projects and such. The 45-year-old arguably became even more famous because of his face appearing in a particular meme, than he even did as a reality TV star.
Together with his father, Paul Teutul Sr., Paul helped co-found Orange County Choppers in 1999. Junior, as he’s known by, also has a brother, Daniel, who is the owner of Orange County Metalworks LLC. His other younger brother, Michael, joined him on American Chopper on The Discovery Channel starting in 2002. So, it’s very much a family-operated reality show empire.
But, it hasn’t all been rainbows and roses for the Teutul family. As any good reality TV show must have, drama seeped into the lives of the stars, except this drama was a little too real.
We’ll discuss below how that drama led to more fame than Junior thought possible—however unwanted it might be—and how he managed to snag $2 million in net worth.
Viral Outbreak
During the April 9, 2009 episode of American Chopper, Junior had a disagreement with his father and business partner, Paul Teutul Sr., which led to Junior being terminated from the company. They worked on reconciliation throughout the years, but not before Paul started his own motorcycle design company.
But more importantly, that disagreement on the show—which appears to be very real and not scripted, considering the aftermath and Teutul’s firing—led to an internet meme that made the Teutuls a household name.
The meme, which shows five or 6 images of Junior and Senior arguing, pointing at each other, throwing furniture, etc., has become known as the “American Chopper Argument” meme, and it is constantly filled with any sorts of funny dialogue to get someone’s point across (or not get their point across, if the “argument” is convoluted). It might not have given Paul Teutul Jr. any money directly, but it indirectly made him way more famous than he was before.
Money-Makers
After leaving Orange County Choppers, Paul started his own design company called Paul Jr. Designs, in 2010, to compete head to head with OCC. Several OCC employees even joined him there, and he did well for himself. This led to a spin-off series of American Chopper called American Chopper: Senior vs. Junior, which aired on TLC from 2010-2012, and which made Junior even more money.
Besides his design shop, he eventually returned to Orange County Choppers as a consultant, for the remainder of the reality show’s run.
Here are some other big jobs that have made Junior money, adding to his $2 million net worth. In 2014, he built a bike for the World of Warcraft video game, which appeared in-game. In 2016, he built two bikes for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movies. Both of those custom builds were used in the films.
As recently as December 2019, Paul Jr. and Sr. announced they were filming a two-hour special, with filming scheduled to end on January 15, 2020. Because of COVID-19, however, that’s up in the air.
Nonetheless, Paul Teutul Jr. is far from done, and he’s already made quite a name for himself. He also has a son, Hudson, with his wife Rachael Biester.