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Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD?

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby Starsky » Tue Nov 26, 2013 9:29 am

Matt and Trip

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby CaptainArgh » Tue Nov 26, 2013 3:54 pm

There's another angle to this question. It is unlikely anyone is taking a yearly $1M paycheck from kiteboarding... but, say you spend 10 years building a business and then sell that for $10M more than you initially invested in land, building, materials, etc...that'd be a yearly average > $1M, which is a nice payday. So that's a good plan for the OP...build a business centered around kiting but don't make that your central revenue stream...let the stoke of kiteboarding drive adjacent merchandise, businesses and real estate. ;)

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby UKSurf » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:44 pm

If I had to bet on it I would say Robby Naish is the highest overall earners in the kitesurfing industry, although a chunk of his money was probably made in windsurfing, he is probably worth a few million. Shannon best is probably worth a few quid as well.

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby BillyGoatGruff » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:54 pm

I am sure there are a few who have made more than 1 million.

- Robby Naish
- Pete Cabrinha
- Roberto Ricci
- Shannon Best

Mixture of kiting, windsurfing, clothing, boards etc but definitely millionaires

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby bigwave » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:24 pm

Neil Pryde

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby Osprey1 » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:56 pm

Thanks for the feedback. The main point of my question was to determine how mature the kiting industry is and if it still has potential to grow. I used to be a competitive snowboarder back in the mid-nineties. Back then there were very few people involved in snowboarding industry alone that made serious coin, or those who did for a year or two were able to maintain it. This changed somewhat after the turn of the century with guys like Shawn White, T. Rice, Etc. but still to this day selling boards and bindings isn't enough as the accessory 'lifestyle' gear that spits out the serious profits.

On another note I wonder how many pro kiters who decide to train instead of getting an education will have any career opportunities once in they hit their mid 30's? Some of my old friends had signature snowboard models and were constantly filming all over the world, to me this seemed like the life. Then sustained injuries and age took their tolls and now that they are in their early forties many don't have really anything to show for it besides a lot of good memories. Unfortunately this is the case who never got a degree or any real career training. (However, a few did well for themselves by pivoting and switching industries altogether).

It will be interesting to see if the number of people kiting plateaus and fades like windsurfing or if it will experience another exponential growth curve like snowboarding did before maturing.

blah, blah, blah ramble on... :wink:

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby eree » Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:00 pm

export sales last year topped $1.43 million, with the US heading the list at $268,000 worth of sales, followed by France ($188,000) and Italy ($180,000).
Sales in New Zealand were valued at $47,000
this is about Switch Kites last year results.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-b ... itesurfers

you can extrapolate on whole market

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby NYKiter » Tue Nov 26, 2013 7:45 pm


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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby CaptainArgh » Wed Nov 27, 2013 1:23 am

NYKiter wrote:see where the kites are made...

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Kitesu ... 06254.aspx
That's a good link. This line cracked me up...
  • "Best kites are put together by happy sri lankans who must certainly be sick of fluro pink and green by now." :lol:
Nice videos. But they are all of the private factories...sort of...I hear there is another factory that makes the bulk of the kites. Be nice to see a video of that one also.

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Re: Has anyone in the kite industry earned more than $1m USD

Postby JS » Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:15 am

Generally, if someone has personal income of over $1,000,000 per year, it's nobody else's business to know except the government and their accountant.

Most people with actual income that high keep that information private. On the other hand, most people who tell others (who don't need to know) that they earn that much, actually don't. There are few exceptions. I'm not joking.

And that makes the answer to the topical question of this thread quite elusive.


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