What is Shaun White's Net Worth?
Shaun White is an American snowboarder, musician, and skateboarder who has a net worth of $65 million. Also known as "The Flying Tomato" because of his distinctive red hair, Shaun White is one of the most successful and highest-paid Olympians of all time. He has won three Olympic gold medals, 11 ESPY Awards, and 15 X Games gold medals (13 for snowboarding and two for skateboarding).
In 2009, Shaun signed a 10-year multi-million-dollar endorsement deal with Burton Snowboards, and he has a close corporate relationship with the energy drink Red Bull. Other endorsements include Target, Oakley, Hewlett-Packard, and Ubisoft. These endorsements help Shaun earn an estimated $10 million per year without having to even strap on a snowboard.
Shaun is also secretly a bit of a real estate mogul (as we detail later in this article), the founder of a lifestyle brand, and an investor in Mammoth Mountain.
Here is a summary of Shaun White's biggest career accomplishments so far:
- 3-time Olympic gold medalist in men's snowboard halfpipe (2006, 2010, 2018)
- 13-time X Games gold medalist in men's snowboard superpipe and slopestyle
- 10-time ESPY Award winner
- Holds the world record for most X Games gold medals and most Olympic gold medals by a snowboarder
- First athlete to compete and medal in both the Summer and Winter X Games
- Only athlete to ever score a perfect 100 during a superpipe competition at the X Games
- Won the world championships in 2005 and 2007
- Finished on the podium in every Winter X Games halfpipe competition from 2002 to 2018
- Was the youngest person to ever win an Olympic gold medal in snowboarding
- Is considered one of the most influential snowboarders of all time
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Early Life
Shaun White was born Shaun Roger White on September 3, 1986, in San Diego, California. He grew up with parents Roger and Cathy, older brother Jesse, and older sister Kari. Born with a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot, Shaun had two open-heart surgeries as a child. He started snowboarding at a young age, attempting to emulate his brother, and the White family would often spend time at the Bear Mountain and Okemo Mountain ski resorts. Shaun began winning snowboarding competitions by the time he was seven years old, and he also excelled at skateboarding; after meeting at a San Diego skatepark when White was 9, famed skateboarder Tony Hawk became his mentor.
Career
White went pro in snowboarding at age 13 and skateboarding at age 17. Shaun's skateboarding skills earned him the title of Action Sports Tour Champion, and he was the first athlete to win the Winter X Games and Summer X Games in more than one sport. Snowboard manufacturer Burton began sponsoring White when he was seven years old. When he won the U.S. Open Snowboarding Championships at age 16, he became the youngest athlete to do so. Shaun competed in the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018, winning his first Olympic gold medal at the age of 19. In 2003 and 2004, he won the European snowboarding contest Air & Style, and in 2007, he won the Burton US Open and was named "Burton Global Open Champion." In 2008, White released the video game "Shaun White Snowboarding," and "Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage" was released the following year.
(Photo by Laurent Salino/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
In 2009, Shaun won the FIS World Cup Men's Halfpipe competition, and in 2012, he earned a perfect score in the men's Snowboard SuperPipe at the Winter X Games, something no one had ever achieved before. He came in third place at the 2013 Pipe & Slope competition, and in 2017, he injured himself in New Zealand while training for the Winter Olympics. After crashing into the rim of a superpipe, White received 62 stitches in his face and spent five days in the hospital. Despite his injuries, Shaun was able to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics and won his third gold medal. Shaun White finished fourth in the halfpipe at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
White also has a career in entertainment, appearing in the films "Friends with Benefits" (2011) and "Stretch" (2014) and the Disney Channel movie "Cloud 9" (2014). He has also lent his voice to the film "The Smurfs 2" (2013) and an episode of Fox's "American Dad!" (2013) and appeared in music videos by Thirty Seconds to Mars and The Black Keys. In 2012, Shaun formed the band Bad Things with Davis LeDuke, Jared Palomar, Anthony Sanudo, and Lena Zawaideh. The band signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records in 2013 and released their self-titled debut album in 2014.
In 2022, White launched the active lifestyle brand "Whitespace," which released a line of outerwear, snowboarding goods, athletic equipment, and streetwear apparel.
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Personal Life
Shaun dated Phantogram vocalist/keyboardist Sarah Barthel from 2013 to 2019, and he began a relationship with actress Nina Dobrev in early 2020.
In 2016, former Bad Things drummer Lena Zawaideh filed a lawsuit against Shaun for breach of contract and sexual harassment; the lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in May 2017. In September 2012, White was arrested for vandalism and public intoxication in Nashville, Tennessee, after attending the wedding of The Black Keys' Patrick Carney; the charges were later dropped.
Shaun White has granted 17 wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation since 2008. As an infant, he had to undergo two open-heart surgeries.
Awards and Accolades
White won Olympic gold medals for men's snowboarding (halfpipe) at the 2006 Torino Games, the 2010 Vancouver Games, and the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. He has earned more X Games gold medals and overall medals than any other athlete in history. Shaun won X Games gold medals for superpipe in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, and he earned gold medals for slopestyle in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009. For skateboarding, he won gold medals at the X Games for vert in 2007 and 2011 as well as silver medals in 2005 and 2010 and a bronze in 2008. In 2018, White set the record for the highest score in the men's halfpipe with a score of 97.75 during the Winter Olympics. In 2009, Shaun received the "Revolver" Golden Gods Award for "Most Metal Athlete," and that year, "Snowboarder Magazine" ranked him the world's ninth-best snowboarder. "Transworld Snowboarding" has named him Rider Of The Year twice.
Real Estate
Shaun White is somewhat of an underground real estate mogul with multiple luxury properties around the globe.
In 2014, he paid $8.94 million for a 3-bedroom ranch house in Malibu. He sold this home in 2020 for $11.8 million. Around the same time, White put his other Malibu home on the market for $12.75 million. The price was slashed to $8.995 million in early 2020. It ultimately sold for $8 million. The Malibu homes were originally part of a $27.5 million compound White placed on the market in 2019 with the option of selling separately.
In 2017, Shaun sold his 4,500-square-foot Hollywood Hills home for $6.7 million and listed his New York City penthouse for $2.79 million. He relisted the penthouse for $2.95 million in 2019. The asking price dropped to $2.45 million in July 2020, and in September, it returned for sale asking $3 million.
In March 2018 Shaun bought a second home in the Hollywood Hills, on the same block as the home he sold a year earlier. He paid $3.75 million for the second Hollywood Hills home. He listed this property for sale in April 2024 for $5 million, ultimately accepting $3.925 million in August 2024.
