Bam Margera is an American who many would recognize from the small screen. His net worth is an estimated $50 million, but how did he make his money?
Bam Margera began his career as a professional skateboarder and earned money through sponsorship and brand endorsements. He then became a central cast member of MTV’s ‘Jackass’ which prompted spinoffs and led to him becoming a reality TV star. He has also made money from other ventures.
Read on to learn more about Margera’s wealth, his starring role in ‘Jackass’, and some of his more unusual pursuits.
Skateboarding Career
Although Bam Margera dropped out of West Chester East High School after his junior year, he’s now worth an estimated $50 million.
Margera became an icon in the 90s and began his rise to fame as a professional skateboarder. In the late 90s, he featured in ads for Toy Machine Skateboards and was sponsored by the brand.
He then progressed to sponsorship from Element Skateboards as he reached the peak of his popularity and was reportedly one of their most popular demonstration riders ever, bringing in lots of revenue for the brand.
He’d started to film videos of him and his friends skateboarding and messing around from a young age. These would eventually become the foundation of his video series ‘CKY’, otherwise known as ‘Camp Kill Yourself’ which led Margera to amass huge popularity and more sponsorship.
Over the course of his career, Margera has been sponsored by Volcom, Electric Sunglasses, and Landspeed Wheels, among many other brands and though his partnership with Element ended, a reunion isn’t out of the question.
His mainstream rise to fame, however, occurred when his ‘CKY’ videos caught the attention of Jeff Tremaine. Though Margera would be launched into the spotlight, he remembers “my roots have always been in skateboarding, like the CKY videos and stuff”.
‘Jackass’
Bam Margera really began to make money when he became a central character on the MTV series ‘Jackass’, along with some of his friends from ‘CKY’.
The show ran from 2000 to 2002 and involved Margera and the rest of the cast playing stunts and pranks on the public.
Though the TV show only ran for three seasons, the franchise carried on and Margera always played a big role in subsequent films, such as ‘Jackass Number Two’ and ‘Jackass 3D’.
Summarising the concept of ‘Jackass’ in an interview with Dr. Phil in 2019, Margera said “it’s really stupid and it’s so dumb that people think it’s hilarious”.
Margera has opened up about his struggles with alcohol and substance abuse, which originated during the show, especially as he had hardly touched alcohol up until that point as he would have been unable to skateboard professionally.
His role in ‘Jackass’ made Margera the perfect reality TV star, and allowed him to follow up the series with ‘Viva La Bam’, which ran on MTV for 5 seasons, and ‘Bam’s Unholy Union’.
Watch Bam Margera talk to Dr. Phil about his alcohol abuse after becoming a cast member of ‘Jackass’.
Other Ventures
Margera had to take some time away from skating for a couple of years, due to foot injuries, but that didn’t stop him from making waves with other ventures.
He published a book titled ‘Serious as Dog Dirt’ in 2009 and even opened a bar in West Chester called ‘The Note’ in 2008. He’s also appeared in one of former professional skater Tony Hawk’s video games.
Speaking about his video game appearance in Tony Hawk’s ‘Underground 2’, Margera said, “we became good friends, and he put me on the cover of his second video game, and because of that I bought a Ferrari Modena. So, thank you dude!”
Clearly Margera’s skateboarding talents opened a lot of money-making doors.