Just about anybody could pick Rob Dyrdek out of a crowd; he’s an international icon, recognized in 197 of the “official” 195 countries. (No, that’s not a typo, and no, it doesn’t add up. But it kinda does…keep reading!)
Most people know him from one or more of his many televised ventures and he’s literally been on TVs all around the entire globe! But his enterprise is very vast and it spans the scope of several industries. Even though his popularity spurred his entrepreneurial rise, we’re certain that he’d have come up big even if nobody knew his name. He’s that tenacious!
He dumped the idea of formal education when he was 16, dropped out to skate in California, and he has been shaking things up ever since. He owns the first company that ever sponsored him (as well as a myriad of other partial and full-ownership ventures), he has partners in markets from food distribution to numerous entertainment outlets, and he’s also an ordained minister. (Yes, he can marry you.)
The simple math boils down to hard numbers: he’s 44 years old and has a net worth of $50 million. Aggregate that however you want to, he's averaging over $1 million a year!
A keen sense of business has always been with him: “When I was 16,” he recalls, “I told people I had to treat this career like a business.” Undeniably, there is something very special about Rob. While all of that is hard to qualify within the scope of a single feature, we can try to at least quantify how the dude rolls around.
21 Double “0” Dyrdek
Rob is famous for so many things; it’s hard to remember what we originally remember him from. Despite the profession that propelled to the position he’s at today, one of his most memorable stunts had nothing to do with a skateboard (except that it had everything to do with a skateboard). The Chevy Sonic “kickflip” seen ‘round the world (quite literally) was a jaw-dropper in 2011 but few people know Rob wanted so much more from the stunt. The original inspiration came from James Bond, but it was way too expensive. So, when grinding the frame rails along something was too complicated, the “simple” kickflip was settled upon.
20 Kickflip It Is!
Rob, by his own self-admission, is no stunt man. You wouldn’t know it, seeing as he’s a professional skateboarder (one who dropped out of school at 16 to do it professionally), but he’s also no dummy. Knowing his limits, he worked closely with competent support staff to ensure all the fine details were worked out. This stunt lasted six seconds to the world—but one does not simply kickflip a Sonic. Looking at the ramp from Rob’s viewpoint sheds a little light on how precarious the trick was; it had to be hit just right. (That long, straight, white line isn’t smack-dab down the middle of his launch run for no reason!)
19 How They Made It Work!
From the head-on view of the ramp, it will either clear up the mystery behind the stunt or further convolute it. If you’re confused still, take note of the two pictures above. Looking at the ramp head-on, you can see a primary ramp along the centerline of the left tire’s path, while a larger, secondary ramp extends well above it for the right tire. The object was to continue to “push” the right tire up as the left side of the car gave way to gravity (and the longitudinal rolling from the right ramp). The second photo shows the magic in action. A deviation of mere inches could have proved dangerous.
18 Rob Has The Midas Touch
Rob has the Midas touch; anything he touches increases in value simply due to the fact that his skin cells may have, at one time, transferred onto the object in question. (The white Tahoe you just read about, for example, sold for $22,000; the same exact 2008 model that you can pick up, all day long, for under $10,000.) If doubling the resale value of a gas-guzzling SUV after you rub your epidermis all over the place (and run the warranty out) isn’t a Midas touch, we don’t think anything is. That’s how you know you’ve arrived kids; when a few public pictures of you next to a car can boost its value.
17 When The Tahoe Won’t Do
When the compact size of the Tahoe just isn’t gonna cut it, many people resort to stacking on the roof rails, letting the rear gate hang open by a bungee, or maybe even renting a trailer. Tahoes are large, but they aren’t monstrous. When Rob needs monstrous, he calls upon this beast, the “Street Jet.” (We personally think he very well may have a real monster truck stashed somewhere, as well as a jet.) This Street Jet, however, doesn’t fly (nor does it crush car bodies). But it is a $65,000 truck in its barebones form. Rob doesn’t care, he’s good as long as he can match it with his kicks.
16 He Likes To Accessorize
It’s easy to look fly when you have money to burn, but it’s not necessarily as easy as you’d think. Rob’s innate business savvy writes an irrevocable code that he lives by; he isn’t one to squander copious amounts of money on lavish expenses and yet, he always looks fly! (Ever notice how some prominent public figures have mysteriously gone broke while amidst a $7 million pad with Ferraris and Lamborghinis parked crooked out front?) Rob stays well-equipped but above all, he stays well within his means. All of this business sense goes into the war machine that is his empire; what comes out is black on black on black on black!
15 Doppelgangers Bite The Style (Hard)
They’re everywhere and you can’t escape them. As eccentric a character as Rob is, he’s bound to pick up some imitators somewhere along the way. Interestingly enough, you’ll constantly read about how his broadcasts have reached “198 countries” around the world. “Country” is a fancy word for “sovereign state,” of which there are only 195 of, as of 2018 (according to the UN). Some people argue for Kosovo, Taiwan, and Western Sahara; but we’re inclined to side with the UN on this one. Either way, all three probably have a bunch of blacked-out Tahoes rolling around with limo on limo!
14 He Has Space To Park Anything He Can Afford
And that includes the world’s largest skateboard! You may have seen it around before, but just in case you haven’t, you should know: it’s not overrated one bit! At first, it may impress upon you a level of novelty that ventures into the realm of corny, but that’s just because you haven’t seen it in action yet! It’s officially, “The World’s Largest Skateboard,” as designated by Guinness. The impossibly large skateboard was built in Los Angeles, California, to ridiculously impractical proportions. Measuring 36 feet long, it’s wider than a tractor-trailer (8’8”) and nearly four feet tall. Yes, they do ride it down big hills and yes, it does crash indiscriminately into whatever’s at the bottom: hard!
13 He Likes Stacks On Stacks (On Stacks)
Although he may not be able to park the world’s largest skateboard in the comfort of his living room—which you know he wouldn’t hesitate to do—that doesn’t stop him from lining every available square-inch of his interior with “regular” skateboard decks. That’s typically what happens when you own skateboard companies, though; you tend to have a lot of them lying around. In a way, it’s safer to keep it small! One time, while leaving Times Square with the big skateboard in tow on a flatbed, they were pulled over just so a police officer could take a picture with it!
12 Exotics Get Him In The Christmas Spirit
Ferrari dealer employees may have a snide reputation for customers “under their station” and prestige is apparently preserved with an air of pompous self-adulation. But this customer service tactic could have proved ill-placed, to say the least, should a Ferrari not have recognized the main attraction himself, as he moseyed on into the showroom. Rob comes to buy, whenever and wherever he comes. When Rob walks into a Ferrari dealership, he’s either leaving with one or walking away with a receipt and a delivery date. Rob says it felt like Christmas when Ferrari would send him pictures of his new toy making its way through their factory.
11 Business Before Pleasure
Dyrdek is a man of many passions—and an inferno rages beneath each one. (He didn’t get stacks on stacks on stacks by being lukewarm, after all.) Dropping out of high school when he was only 16, he’d be lightyears ahead of his class by the time they graduated. Even at that age, he understood the fundamental principles of business, like when it’s time to say goodbye to an old friend, it’s time to say goodbye. Even his precious 458 Italia wasn’t immune to this irrefutable business principle. The very fact that he knew when it was time to say goodbye, despite the lack of necessity, speaks volumes of his business acumen.
10 Pleasure After That
Rob Dyrdek has been with Gymkhana since its formative days and we’re on Gymkhana 10 already. For those of you unfamiliar with Gymkhana, it’s essentially a celebration of all the impossibly technical things that less than 1% of the world’s driving population has the skillset to execute. If you think NASCAR is exciting with “three-wide” on the backstretch and four laps to go, Gymkhana is likely going to blow your socks off! Top-notch production, lots of hi-resolution, slow-motion shots, and close-quarter (full-throttle) maneuvering around insane road courses with some of the meanest all-wheel drives you’ve ever seen. Yeah, Rob’s on that too!
9 Rubber Is For The Weak
Actually, rubber is for the wise. But, if you can figure out a way to drive better with no rubber than most people can with it, you’d present a convincing argument. The team’s unrestrained creativity is always looking to outdo themselves, but since Gymkhana 1 was such a hit, they condemned themselves to an impossibly high bar (which they have effortlessly superseded with each installment, in our opinion!). If you missed the clip, Ken Block takes most of the spotlight; but you do see Rob performing a brake stand in a mini car as a trademark Ken Block donut circulates around him.
8 Ladders Are For The Bold
Gymkhana 10 was intense, to put it lightly. And it’s got something for everyone. From full-size Ford pickups with all-wheel drive conversions to all-wheel-drive Subarus with no tire conversions, the stunts are laid on hard and heavy! One stunt, however, was a little too heavy-duty and Rob was having no part of it. It was a ladder stunt that involved a yeti, a drift, and some impeccable timing. Rob arrived on set the day of the stunt, got out and took one look at it, got back in his Tahoe and bounced without a word. The text he sent the team on his way out contained just two words, only one of which, can be reproduced here: “...This.”
7 He Doesn’t Only Drive Cars And Skateboards
This article is supposed to be about “cars,” technically but we figure, if you’re baller enough to commission an R-22 Robinson helicopter for your first date with your future wife, that’s noteworthy enough for a mention. “I knew on that flight, I would spend the rest of my life with her. Since [the flight], we’ve gotten engaged, gotten married, had two kids…” Rob and Bryiana also have a dog, a cat, and a rabbit. It’s safe to say Rob and Bryiana are animal lovers. After all, their first date started with a flight to Bakersfield to participate in a puppy rescue and would end with a relaxing evening on Catalina Island.
6 Helicopters Don’t Get Old
If you go and trace the trail of social media posts and events that led up to their union, you’ll see one very in-love Rob tenaciously pursuing what he wanted until he got it. (Take notes, all you young, aspiring entrepreneurs!) Being bold is a part of who he is. So, when he halts a stage production of Aladdin to propose, it’s just another day in the life (like his first helicopter date). On their three-year anniversary, Rob would again recreate the magical first date with the Robinson. (Has anybody reminded him that he’s going to have to top this later on?)
5 Start ‘Em Young!
If anybody knows the value of starting young, it’s Rob Dyrdek. He couldn’t even get through four years of high school before bailing on it to start that falsely optimistic thing we call adulthood. But when he hit it, he hit the ground running so fast that bad luck couldn’t even catch up to him! That's not to say his journey has been a walk in the park, but once he got rolling, nothing could stop him! Rob aims to instill that same sense of tenacity in his children by leading by example (and familiarizing Kodah Dash with the finer principles of Aston Martin aerodynamics).
4 Start ‘Em Fast!
Falling in line with the “Storm Trooper” appellation that many fanboys attribute to anything he owns in a black and white paint scheme, Rob owns a Campagna T-Rex. Constructed of a 1.5-inch tubular steel chassis, the fully-caged, carbon fiber three-wheeler has a 90-inch wheelbase, a 78-inch track width, and a height of only 42 inches off the ground. With three-point safety belts, four-piston calipers, triangulated sidewalls, and a state-of-the-art forward crash zone, it’s safe enough for his kids! With the liquid-cooled, 197-hp, 16-valve, DOHC engine sitting behind the driver seat, it’s wild enough for him—which is wild enough for us!
3 1969 Pro Touring Camaro
Many people know Rob has a monster Pro Touring Camaro that could peel the gravel out of the asphalt with the back tires. What most people don’t know about that particular build is that Rob couldn’t stand the car in its supercharged format! He was drawn to the sleek body lines and muscly stance; but in an understandable fit of zeal, he built the living daylights out of it! It was so powerful he could barely drive it, prompting a return trip to the builder for a slight detuning. The 600-hp 383 small-block was, once again, naturally aspirated and scaled back to a modest 400 horsepower (because that’s a modest Camaro, right?), allowing Rob to drive it a lot more.
2 Chevrolet Z-71 Tahoe
Rob is so influential that trends follow him everywhere he goes. Rob can’t own a Tahoe without having every fan (with the same model) trying to emulate his unique taste. But that’s not very surprising; he’s a pop-culture legend! With more shows and productions to his name than you could count on five hands, he’s a walking wad of international acclaim. Yet, despite all of this, he’s super down-to-earth about it all. He’s a really easy guy to like so when he swaps out rims, Plastidips logos, trim panels, and decals, fans modify their Rob wagons accordingly. (The Tahoe was Rob’s go-to show ride for many of his various shows.)