How Did Tony Hawk Achieve a Net Worth of $140 Million From Skateboarding?

Sports, in general, is considered a widely lucrative profession, but just like every industry, the wealth is unevenly distributed, with the most popular sports accounting for the bulk of the wealth. Skateboarding does not belong in the popular sports category, but through it, Tony Hawk has been able to accumulate more than $140 million in personal net worth.

It is a figure that places him higher than some of the sportsmen in popular sports, which has led many to wonder how he achieved it. In this article, we detail how the famous skateboarder became wealthy off a niche sport. Check it out below. 

How Tony Hawk Achieved His Net Worth

On a personal note, one could say Tony Hawk achieved his huge net worth because he was a gifted child who constantly pushed himself to be the best, right from a very young age. However, on a methodical level, his journey to a personal net worth of $140 million has involved a very successful skateboarding career, video games, entrepreneurial ventures, and a film career. 

Skateboarding

Even if you have never witnessed a game of skateboarding, chances are you have heard of the name, Tony Hawk. Through his highly remarkable greatness at skateboarding, he has achieved mainstream recognition and huge net worth through the sport, and it all began at the age of 14 when he became a professional skateboarder. 

Nickname, The Birdman, Tony Hawk’s incredible success as a skateboarder began in 1983, at the age of 15, a year after he became a professional skateboarder when he won the Spring Nationals Contest at Del Mar. Since that first victory, Tony has won more than 60 contests, from the X Games to the World Championships and various National Skateboarding Association contests, where he was world champion twelve years in a row. 

Aside from contest victories, he has also represented the United States at the international level, at the Summer X Games, boasting of sixteen medals, ten of which are gold. 

He was 16 years old when he was considered the best skateboarder in the world, a title he has held on to ever since. Aside from his numerous contest victories, he is also the first skateboarder to land a ‘900’, a difficult skateboarding feat which he has completed at least two more times since his first. 

Through these numerous achievements, Tony Hawk has built a global reputation and attracted sponsors such as Lakai Footwear, Independent, Nixon and Bones, whose partnership has helped him build a massive net worth. 

Entrepreneurial Ventures

Leveraging on his growing popularity, Tony Hawk expanded his skateboarding career into the business side of things by co-founding the skateboarding company, Birdhouse. The company was established in 1992 and is known for producing decks, wheels, as well as skateboarding clothing and accessories. 

In addition to the company, a desire to popularize skateboarding as a sport led Tony Hawk to establish Boom Boom HuckJam, a show tour that features skateboarding, freestyle motocross, and BMX. The tour began in 2002 and has been running ever since, with a presence in 31 cities across the United States, and the popular Six Flags amusement parks. 

As part of his entrepreneurial spirit, which has helped Tony Hawk accrue his $140 million net worth, he has partnered with Six Flags to create a series of amusement park rides, known as Tony Hawk’s Big Spin. 

Video Game Series 

The crux of Tony Hawk’s entrepreneurial ventures has been leveraging his popularity on a variety of business interests and in 1999, one of them was the video game, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The series debuted in 1999 and has released more than 18 titles thus far, including four spin-offs and four repackages. 

The video game series, which is developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, has earned more than $1.4 billion in revenue since 1999, and Tony Hawk has received more than $50 million income since it was released.

Film Career 

In addition to video games, his Birdhouse company, prize money and sponsorship deals earned from a very successful skateboarding career, Tony Hawk’s net worth have also been achieved through several appearances in film and TV shows. 

The pro-skater made his first film appearance in 1986, in Thrashin’, and has gone on to appear in more than 30 films and TV shows ever since, including popular titles like xXx, Lords of Dogtown and Ballers. 

Another way Tony Hawk has achieved his net worth is through his YouTube channel, RIDE, which has more than 1.6 million subscribers and more than 430 million views.