American Rodney Mullen has an estimated net worth of $30 million. He earned his net worth as a professional freestyle and street skateboarder, company owner, inventor and public speaker. He is the most influential skater in the history of skateboarding. He is also considered the greatest street skater and is credited with inventing numerous skateboarding tricks. These include flat ground ollie, kickflip originally called the “magic flip”) in 193, heelflip, impossible and 360-flip (or Tre-flip).
Born John Rodney Mullen on August 17, 1966 in Gainesville, Florida, he began skateboarding at the age of ten against his father’s wishes. He started practicing in the garage of the family home while wearing a comprehensive pads setup. This was a precaution that was part of the deal with his father. He spent time with his sister’s surfer friends who skateboard on weekdays. He became obsessed with the skateboard and practiced for many hours on a daily basis.
Mullen has also created several skateboarding videos and has authored an autobiography entitled The Mutt: How to Skateboard and not Kill Yourself with writer Sean Mortimer. He won his first contest in the Powell-Peralta Bones Brigade on August 21, 1980. He simultaneously turned professional during that time. He later joined the high-profile skateboarding team Plan B in 1991. In 993, Plan B released a video where he showcases the newly-mastered Darkside titled Virtual Reality.
Rodney Mullen’s participation in Plan B ended shortly in 1994 during the unexpected death of Mike Ternasky. In 1997, he started another company called A-Team. He intended to form a super team with the defection of Plan B from the World Industries Empire. Together with his friend and fellow pro-skater Daewon Song, he produced a video called Rodney vs. Daewon that featured each skater competing in segments from trick to trick. He has also appeared in several console video games of the Pro Skater series by Tony Hawk that include Tony Hawk Underground, Tony Hawk Underground 2, Tony Hawk American Wasteland, Tony Hawk Proving Ground and Tony Hawk: Ride, the last game he was in.
Mullen won the Transworld Skateboarding Reader’s Choice Award of the Year in 2002. He was also included in the Transworld’s “30 Most Influential Skaters of All Time” list in December 2011. He was elected into the third position behind Hawk (second) and Mark Gonzales (first).