How Rob Dyrdek Controlled MTV for 15 Years (They Were Desperate)

Rob Dyrdek was a professional skateboarder turned TV star who has had control over MTV for the past 15 years. Sixty percent of the billion-dollar network is his show Ridiculousness, which sometimes is the only show they air for multiple days without a break. However, this is not by some sort of dumb luck. Rob is a very savvy entrepreneur who has now sold multiple of his own businesses for a total of 450 million dollars. He made some sleek business moves that made MTV depend on him for years. Once he realized they were at his mercy, he rinsed them for millions and used their platform to become the soon-to-be billionaire we know today. Growing up in Dayton, Ohio in the 80s, there wasn't much to do but skateboard with your friends. Skateboarding wasn't a big business either. It was a hobby that a lot of kids did after school and on the weekends. There were competitions and skate teams, but nothing to really generate big-time money. Rob was a very talented young skater and dedicated all of his youth obsessing over it, hoping to one day go pro and somehow make a career of it. In 1990, 16-year-old Rob Dyrdek witnessed his friends Chris Carter, Mike Hall, and Jimmy George invest 26 thousand dollars into creating Alien Workshop, a local skate brand that would put Ohio skaters on the map. He watched them build the company from the ground up. At the end of the 11th grade in 1991, Rob decided to skip his senior year and move to California to pursue a skating career after Alien Workshop offered him a one thousand dollar per month salary to be on the team. While he was out there, he represented Alien Workshop to give more presence to the brand in the skateboarding capital of the world. Although Rob was dedicated to his team, watching his friends build a company inspired him. He yearned for something similar. It only made sense to come up with something skateboard-related, so he started Orion Trucks. This was the first company he built from idea to marketing a product. The company still exists today. He's no longer a part of it, but it shows that his vision lasted 30 years. Skateboarding and becoming pro was still what his mind was fixated on. In 1995, he got sponsored by a company called Drawers Clothing, which would later become the iconic DC. Back then, skaters had Nikes and comfortable athletic shoes to do everyday things in, but for skating, they had flat, uncomfortable shoes. Rob spent countless nights in Pacific Beach, San Diego designing a comfortable shoe for skaters. The Dyrdek 1 was born, and once it was released, it was a huge success. He was earning around 300,000 per year now just off shoes, making him an extremely successful 21-year-old but not necessarily a super famous and popular skateboarder yet. Rob started moving away from skating. He was starting all kinds of businesses, including a hip-hop record label called PJs, but none of these would end up being as successful as his future endeavors. Around 1998, DC owner Ken Block told Rob they weren't going to renew his sponsorship because they thought he had already peaked in skateboarding, and they offered him a job as a full-time shoe designer. Rob was hurt. He realized he abandoned his first passion. Now his own team didn't believe in him anymore. He was only 25. This lit a fire inside of him. His passion for skating was stronger than ever. He built his own private skateboarding facility called the TF in San Diego so he could practice 24/7, which was kind of the first Fantasy Factory. Every contest he entered in for the next few years, he placed top 10. He was skating at the highest level he ever had, so DC decided to keep him on the team and let him keep designing shoes. He structured a new deal with DC where he would pitch them as many shoe designs as he had. Whatever ones they wanted, he would get a two percent royalty on his shoes. Average at around 60, so he was getting about a dollar twenty per shoe. They liked the idea, and at one point, Rob had 35 shoes in the DC catalog he was getting paid from. Needless to say, he was making hundreds of thousands, potentially seven figures from DC shoes. It was also around the late 90s and early 2000s where Rob created this image of flexing luxury and kind of living like a rapper but for skating, where skating at the time was this hesh counterculture and almost modest lifestyle. Like most skaters didn't have a brand. Their brand was, "I'm a rad skater," and that's it. The majority of the skate community thought Rob was a pompous prick, but he leaned in even more. December 2000, the cover of Big Brother magazine had Rob skating next to a Mercedes-Benz, a woman in a swimsuit, and a real whole-ass cheetah. He was rocking iced-out Rolexes. He had an iced-out DC ring. Rob admits that it was a little over the top. However, he knew how powerful perception was. If he looked and acted like a hot shot, people would think that's who he was. From 2000 to 2002, Rob was at the peak of his skateboarding career. He was 27 years old, already pretty rich, and focusing hard on competitions and video parts to keep his relevance so he could sell more shoes. 2002 is where he met Christopher "Big Black" Boykin, which would change his life forever. DC was working on their first major skate video set to release in 2003, and they were going to go on a countrywide tour to promote the video. Rob knew he wasn't as good of a skater as the others on the team, so he had to think out of the box to make his part memorable and valuable to the video. He came up with a skit. The concept was Rob was fed up with security and cops kicking him out of skate spots while he was trying to film for his part. He decided he was going to hire a private security guard to deal with other security guards. He went to the first security company he could find, City Events in Pacific Beach, and asked them for the biggest but friendliest guy they had. Immediately, the owner thought of somebody perfect for the position, and that was Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. I have many, many different things I do as far as Dyrdek's security. Make sure Rob skates. My job is to do the dirty work. The reactions of security guards were hilarious because they would come out ready to fight and bully Rob. Then when Big pulled up, they got all soft and scared. They created a genius gimmick that really resonated with the skate community because everyone could relate to it. It also helped that Big Black was a funny, charismatic guy that had a lot of chemistry with Rob. After the first day of working together, they would become friends, which would last a lifetime. Rob and Big Black were inseparable. They were now doing everything together. One thing I should mention is that Big already had a very successful security business of his own for about 10 years at this point. He wasn't just relying on Rob for money. Part of Rob's celebrity baller image now included having a private security guard, again making him seem way more important than he technically was at the time. In the spring of 2004, DC paid for Rob to participate in the Gumball 3000. This is a seven-day-long, three-thousand-mile race across Europe on public roads with big parties every night that started in 1999 as a showcase for exotic cars, fashion, and the entertainment industry. Celebrities of all kinds participate in the event, so of course, Rob has to do what all the celebrities are doing. A young movie producer named Ruben Fleischer was making a documentary about the event. He reached out to as many celebrities as he could to film their experiences on his journey. He ran into Rob and Big Black. Their chemistry was great together, and he knew he needed to document it. Gumball 3000: Six Days in May was the documentary that was made by Ruben Fleischer. Rob and Big Black's involvement in the film consisted of Rob bringing that exciting and fun energy while Big Black complements his smooth, charismatic humor. Two very unlikely best friends driving across Europe. Rob was driving recklessly, Chris mooning other drivers out the window, dodging police officers. Their part in this film feels like an episode of Rob and Big. During this trip, Ruben said to them, "Y"

without a break however this is not by some sort of dumb luck rob is a very savvy entrepreneur who has now sold multiple of his own businesses for a total of 450 million dollars he made some sleek business moves that made mtv

depend on him for years once he realized they were at his mercy he rinsed them for millions and used their platform to become the soon-to-be billionaire we know today growing up in dayton ohio in the 80s there wasn't much to do but skateboard

with your friends skateboarding wasn't a big business either it was a hobby that a lot of kids did after school and on the weekends there were competitions and skate teams but nothing to really generate big time money rob was a very

talented young skater and dedicated all of his youth obsessing over it hoping to one day go pro and somehow make a career of it in 1990 16 year old rob dyrdek witnessed his friends chris carter mike hall and jimmy george invest 26 thousand

dollars into creating alien workshop a local skate brand that would put ohio skaters on the map he watched them build the company from the ground up at the end of the 11th grade in 1991 rob decided to skip his senior year and move

to california to pursue a skating career after alien workshop offered him a one thousand dollar per month salary to be on the team while he was out there he represented alien workshop to give more presence to the brand in the

skateboarding capital of the world although rob was dedicated to his team watching his friends build a company inspired him he yearned for something similar it only made sense to come up with something skateboard related so he started orion trucks this was the first

company he built from idea to marketing a product the company still exists today he's no longer a part of it but it shows that his vision lasted 30 years skateboarding and becoming pro was still what his mind was fixated on in 1995 he

got sponsored by a company called drawers clothing which would later become the iconic dc back then skaters had nikes and comfortable athletic shoes to do everyday things in but for skating they had flat uncomfortable shoes rob spent countless nights in pacific beach

san diego designing a comfortable shoe for skaters the deer deck 1 was born and once it was released it was a huge success he was earning around 300 000 per year now just off shoes making him an extremely successful 21 year old but

not necessarily super famous and popular skateboarder yet rob started moving away from skating he was starting all kinds of businesses including a hip-hop record label called pjs but none of these would end up being as successful as his future endeavors

around 1998 dc owner ken block told rob they weren't going to renew his sponsorship because they thought he had already peaked in skateboarding and they offered him a job as a full-time shoe designer rob was hurt he realized he

abandoned his first passion now his own team didn't believe in him anymore he was only 25. this lit a fire inside of him his passion for skating was stronger than ever he built his own private skateboarding facility called the tf in

san diego so he could practice 24 7. which was kind of the first fantasy factory every contest he entered in for the next few years he plays top 10. he was skating at the highest level he ever had so dc decided to keep him on the

team and let him keep designing shoes he structured a new deal with dc where he would pitch them as many shoe designs as he had whatever ones they wanted he would get a two percent royalty on his shoes average at around 60 so he was

getting about a dollar twenty per shoot they liked the idea and at one point rob had 35 shoes in the dc catalog he was getting paid from needless to say he was making hundreds of thousands potentially seven figures from dc shoes it was also

around the late 90s and early 2000s where rob created this image of flexing luxury and kind of living like a rapper but for skating where skating at the time was this hesh counter culture and almost modest lifestyle like most

skaters didn't have a brand their brand was i'm a rad skater and that's it majority of the skate community thought rob was a pompous prick but he leaned in even more december 2000 the cover of big brother magazine had rob skating next to

a mercedes-benz woman in a swimsuit and a real whole ass cheetah he was rocking iced out rolexes he had an iced out dc ring rob admits that it was a little over the top however he knew how powerful perception was if he looked and

acted like a hot shot people would think that's who he was 2000 to 2002 rob was at the peak of his skateboarding career he was 27 years old already pretty rich and focusing hard on competitions and video parts to keep his relevance so he

could sell more shoes 2002 is where he met christopher big black boykin which would change his life forever dc was working on their first major skate video set to release in 2003 and they were going to go on a countrywide tour to

promote the video rob knew he wasn't as good of a skater as the others on the team so he had to think out of the box to make his part memorable and valuable to the video he came up with a skit the

concept was rob was fed up with security and cops kicking him out of skate spots while he was trying to film for his part he decided he was going to hire a private security guard to deal with other security guards he went to the

first security company he could find city events in pacific beach and asked them for the biggest but friendliest guy they had immediately the owner thought of somebody perfect for the position and that was christopher big black boykin i have many many different things i do

as far as duradex security um make sure rob skates my job is to do the dirty work the reactions of security guards were hilarious because they would come out ready to fight and bully rob then when big pulled up they got all soft and

scared they created a genius gimmick that really resonated with the skate community because everyone could relate to it it also helped that big black was a funny charismatic guy that had a lot of chemistry with rob after the first

day of working together they would become friends which would last a lifetime rob and big black were inseparable they were now doing everything together one thing i should mention is that big already had a very successful security business of his own

for about 10 years at this point he wasn't just relying on rob for money part of rob's celebrity baller image now included having a private security guard again making him seem way more important than he technically was at the time in

the spring of 2004 dc paid for rob to participate in the gumball 3000. this is a seven day long three thousand mile race across europe on public roads with big parties every night that started in 1999 as a showcase for exotic cars

fashion and the entertainment industry celebrities of all kinds participate in the event so of course rob has to do what all the celebrities are doing a young movie producer named ruben fleischer was making a documentary about the event he reached out to as many

celebrities as he could to film their experiences on his journey he ran into robin big black their chemistry was great together and he knew he needed to document it gumball 3000 six days in may was the documentary that was made by

ruben fleischer robin big black's involvement in the film consisted of rob bringing that exciting and fun energy while big black complements his smooth charismatic humor two very unlikely best friends driving across europe rob was driving recklessly chris mooning other

drivers out the window dodging police officers their part in this film feels like an episode of robin big during this trip ruben said to them y'all should consider doing a tv show together but they didn't think it was a good idea by

the way make sure you're drinking water while you're watching this video reuben had a job back in hollywood so he was a little bit connected he showed the gumball 3000 film to jeff tremaine who had worked for big brother magazine in

the 90s sold jackass and wild boys to mtv while also keeping his presence in the skateboard world he was familiar with rob he was familiar with his dc part with big and he loved their energy in the gumball film rubin said we should

come up with an idea for a tv show and jeff thought why didn't i think of that again rob was reluctant to try to come up with a tv show because of his other business endeavors but he isn't the type

to turn down an opportunity he took the idea for robin big black which was the original name of the show to mtv and they hated it it was supposed to be a silly buddy comedy about two unlikely best friends at this time mtv wanted

scripted reality tv that they could control and manufacture to guarantee success instead they came up with a show called rob deardex rules for success the first rule of success is always keep a good guy around you like big black it

was supposed to be a positive and motivational show that would have failed miserably while filming the first episode big black went off script and started telling rob that he could beat him in a foot race the hilarious conversation and eventual foot race down

the street ended up being the most entertaining part of the episode after mtv saw this they decided okay no more scripts just be yourselves be funny we trust you this eventually came down to mtv agreeing on rob's original vision

for the show you will notice this is the first time mtv kind of gave up a little bit of power and control to rob which would become a reoccurring theme throughout their relationship before the show came out on mtv rob knew he had a

huge opportunity to level up his business ventures bam margera's mtv show viva la bam was super popular along with jackass and he was selling merchandise and bam branded products like crazy because of the platform that he had he

was selling triple the amount of skateboards per month in tony hawk rob also being from the skateboard world had been studying what bam was doing for many years he knew that if his show took off he needed to be ready to capitalize

in the right way so rob restructured his business deals to take lower upfront pay and have higher percentage royalties so i did a deal with dc renegotiated for a higher royalty i restructured my board deal with alien workshop to be

like give me five dollars a board and give me two thousand a month instead of two dollars a board and uh five thousand a month like robin big season one episode one launches november 2nd 2006 and takes off

immediately each episode premiered to four or five million viewers the two unlikely best friends were funny full of energy really just so lovable when you watched it you just understood rob would come up with the most random ideas for

skits and big would go along with whatever like buying a mini horse so their dog has a friend or starting an r b group or trying to time travel the chemistry and bond created on tv was almost like you were a part of their

family with this big platform now rob went from a well-known skateboarder to a full-blown mainstream pop culture celebrity the shoe deal with dc he owned a 10 royalty on the stan smith style shoe that would end up selling millions

of dollars rogue status was the gun shirt that he wore all the time that did about 8 million dollars in sales dc as a whole went from an 80 million dollar company to a 500 million dollar company in just a few years with rob wearing

their gear all over tv mtv was paying him 35 000 per episode that jumped up to 60 000 per episode for the last season which would total 1.4 million dollars after all three seasons the baller lifestyle he manifested for all those

years he was now 100 living it unfortunately behind the scenes everything wasn't as great as it seemed after the first two seasons big wasn't having much fun anymore they were filming 13 hours a day for months in the

beginning he loved it because it was organic fun off the cuff and truly just two guys having a blast they never actually lived together by the way big had a separate house his room in rob's house was just for the plot on tv for

season three mtv brought in writers made them film 15 episodes which was double from the previous seasons and it started to feel to hollywood for big the show was called robin big but he felt more like a sidekick also chris says that rob

was being paid double what he was rob denies that however rob was working 24 7 writing ideas for the show and guiding the production where big admits that he just showed up brought the funny and left we're not sure what the facts are

but i wouldn't be surprised if rob was being paid more on top of that he was very unhealthy at 430 pounds him and rob were constantly disagreeing on creative ideas which led to multiple blowout arguments and he had a new baby on the

way big decided he was done with hollywood after season 3. he moved to texas with his family got his eating habits and mental health right and reaped the rewards of his hard work him and rob's downfall was relatively

private rob never disrespected him publicly but they didn't communicate with each other for a few years after this rob was ready to give up on tv as well in 2008 mtv begged for season 4 of robin big they offered 125 000 per

episode or for him to come up with a new show but the new show had to be a reality show he always said he didn't want to be the old guy on tv at this point he was 34 years old but the

ratings were so high still and he knew the network was desperate he wanted a much better deal for his new shows he wrote the idea for fantasy factory in one weekend rob was going to transform a 25 000 square foot warehouse into an

indoor skate park and adult playground but the other half of the warehouse would be dedicated to his employees and business partners who are doing day-to-day operations running the deer deck enterprise the episodes would be structured where rob would talk about a

business he's starting or investing in then the other 75 of the show would be him messing around skateboarding doing stunts and keeping the energy fun and light-hearted mtv loved it he also sold them ridiculousness at this time which

wouldn't come out for three years and would then become 60 of what mtv plays for a decade but we'll get to that he demanded one major stipulation before he signed off on fantasy factory he owned his integration rights any of his

businesses that he owned could be advertised and promoted on the show in any way that he wanted and mtv was not allowed to interfere because if you didn't know any product or brand you see displayed on a show or in a movie is

paid for by those brands so mtv could not say no to rob promoting a business that he owned on the show but when it came to big corporate sponsorships or outside entities they were 50 50. since they were 50 50 neither rob nor mtv had

more power so rob took it upon himself to drop these intricate brand integrations with brands like chevy microsoft and monster and he did all the negotiations by himself so mtv just sat back and said wow keep doing that since

you're doing all the work for us meanwhile he was making additional deals on the side with these brands for his own companies like street league wild grinders and other new ventures for example i'm sure some of y'all remember

this episode where he dresses up as the carl's jr mascot and does stunts around the factory this is literally a giant ad but you might also remember that rob wanted to open legal skate parks around the country safe spot skate spot is what

he called them at the first one a giant carl's jr star that kids would skate on this is an example of how rob would go to a corporate sponsor and say hey we'll do this integration on mtv for you but i

also want you to contribute to my personal project so carl's jr paid for the construction of the skatepark then he did basically the same exact deal on another park with 7-eleven you can see now how rob was developing a lot of

control over mtv because he took it upon himself to go the extra mile to set the terms of his next show write all the ideas and creative plans for the show as well as control the negotiations with brands and sponsors that would be

integrated on the show and on top of all of this he was being paid a hundred thousand dollars per episode he was starting to treat mtv like his own private production house and fantasy factory was just a commercial for all of

his new businesses february 8th fantasy factory season 1 episode 1 and as expected it was a hit millions of viewers not to the level of robin big the fans definitely missed him but rob knew just the thing that would

keep people interested stunts and celebrities rob became a stunt man to fill the void of not having big's comedic presence drama his cousin wasn't cutting it and who doesn't love a good celebrity cameo johnny knoxville lamar odom justin bieber carmelo anthony

ludacris were among some of the people who came to the factory there are so many businesses that rob started or promoted on the show clothing companies restaurants a credit card for teens a fragrance workout products and even charities but the two biggest ones were

wild grinders which was his toy line and eventual animated series about his life as a child which would go on to release on nickelodeon and street league skating which would go on to be a globally recognized skate competition event on

the same level as x games and do tour you could also throw in his cousin drama's brand young and reckless which he helped get off the ground in 2011 big black makes his debut appearance on the fantasy factory the beef was squashed

and the duo were together again they continued the vibe of the robin big days but now they had a playground and more money ratings doubled when big came back it was like a whole new show speaking of whole new show ridiculousness premieres

august of 2011 to 3 million viewers the biggest episode they ever had it was essentially america's funniest home videos but rob's version him commentating on viral videos with a celebrity guest or his co-host chanel west coast and steele o'brien so now he

had two hit shows on mtv paying him six figures per episode on both in fact he was making a higher salary on ridiculousness because the show was so inexpensive to make there have been a few different numbers thrown out there

but it seems like 140 000 per episode is accurate they filmed fantasy factory for two more years three seasons where the ratings were still great rob wanted to end the show with a bang the end of season six included him breaking the

world record for the longest jump in a car while going backwards which was the second massive chevy sponsor deal he orchestrated the first one was kick flipping a chevy car the last episode which was the 65th episode was a

one-hour special it was epic and the perfect way to end the series ridiculousness was about to enter the last contractual season which at that point was the 95th episode rob wanted to end the show and move on with his life

he had made roughly 20 million dollars just on tv shows alone not to mention the plethora of successful businesses that he had started no more fantasy factory no more ridiculousness no more tv but mtv begged him again the ratings

were still pretty high and mtv as a whole was struggling they didn't have any other big shows jersey shore was over every reality show they started failed after one season and this was slightly before catfish and team mom 2

which would go on to have success he had done all the creative writing brand integrations and even some of the production on the show how could they let someone go that does all the work for them he was their last hope rob did

not want to be 40 years old on tv plus the warehouse had been incredibly expensive over the years as well he said that he wasn't profiting off the show alone because it cost about 5 million dollars per year to upkeep the factory

he said the mtv deal would have to be so much money that he would be stupid not to do it they didn't want him to walk away from ridiculousness because that show was a powerhouse 24 7. no matter

what time they aired it people watched so the premieres weren't that poppin but they would play repeats of literally any episode and viewers would stay watching probably because when it's 2 am you don't have any brain capacity to focus

on it so it's the perfect show and you aren't following a storyline so it doesn't matter what episode or what season it is rob again knowing mtv is at his mercy organized one big deal for the last season of fantasy factory and 140

new episodes of ridiculousness which would bring him to season 10 of 2017. he said that this was the biggest financial deal of his entire career up until this point which we don't know how much it was but we can speculate this deal also

included that rob's production company super jacket would be producing ridiculousness and the final season of fantasy factory so now mtv wasn't even producing the content not filming not editing it was all rob's businesses that he owned we can also assume that because

he was producing the show that his company now received a percent ownership of the show like he isn't just an actor anymore he's getting those royalties baby literally mtv was like youtube to rob here's my show upload it

he got through the last season of fantasy factory despite not wanting to do it ratings were kind of low but the show was officially over in 2015.

unfortunately two years later we got the sad news that christopher big black boykin had passed away at age 45 of a heart attack in plano texas he is survived by a now 14 year old daughter rest in peace big black at this point in

2017 ridiculousness was only premiering to about 300 000 people or so compared to millions in 2012. like we said play at any time any day the audience loves it so the ratings are still technically very high season 10 ends of

ridiculousness but rob has already gotten over the fact that he's the old guy on tv now so he sets up for another renewal and of course mtv is going to take it because tv is at an all-time low

and mtv is going down with it 250 more episodes and a new spin-off amazingness basically just a talent show which was very unsuccessful after just seven episodes besides the tv show rob is a recluse now he doesn't party with

celebrities he isn't doing commercials or brand deals he's a full-blown entrepreneur building the deer deck machine which is his company that builds other businesses with the goal of selling them the dyrdic machine is a venture creation studio we are a

business that creates businesses by systematically fusing art science and magic he's now growing street league investing in whiskey investing in vr technology starting a protein brand starting a snack brand building family with his wife and first child and

stacking his money basically since 2018 ridiculousness is the only thing that mtv plays sometimes for multiple days straight with no breaks rob is sixty percent of the network he might as well start out the show with hi my name is

rob deardek and welcome back to my network mtv by 2020 rob made the next biggest financial deal of his life he sold his production company super jacket who had been producing ridiculousness in a number of other shows for the past

seven years but the stipulation with the venture capitalists was that they also had to purchase street league skating thrill one sports and entertainment bought rob out of both businesses for 150 million dollars both of these businesses he funded with the money that

mtv was paying him while growing and advertising on mtv's networks where millions of people were watching him every day mtv wasn't a partner or an investor in any of his businesses that he promoted and grew on their platform

but rob was a part owner of the show that they put on their platform he announced another 250 episode renewal of ridiculousness in 2020 in which he would be fully done and ready to walk away forever if rob's salary of 140 000 per

episode since 2011 stayed the same over the past decade with ridiculousness having 819 episodes to date means he would have earned 114 million 660 000 just from that show maybe he took a lower salary once his company started

producing it since now he was getting ownership royalties but i guess we don't know rob today is almost unrecognizable to the man he used to be now 47 years old he's a zen calm collected entrepreneur who is on his way to

becoming a billionaire and it's all because he got to call the shots at a multi-billion dollar tv network for 15 years straight