Business & Tech

GoPro Founder Makes Forbes' List of America's Richest for the First Time

Nick Woodman started the wearable video camera company building his first prototypes in Half Moon Bay.

Nick Woodman, 38, founder and CEO of the world's hottest camera company has a net worth of $1.3 billion, earning him a place on FORBES' list of America's richest for the first time.

Every year FORBES crunches the net worth of each American billionaire to see who can claim the privilege of making the exclusive FORBES 400 list. This year there are 20 American billionaires under the age of 45, including Woodman of GoPro.

Woodman started the wearable video camera company in 2002 and built the first camera prototype with his mom's sewing machine and a drill in Half Moon Bay.

He released his first video camera, a 35-millimeter waterproof film version, in 2004 and went onto sell it everywhere from surf shops to home shopping network, QVC. Revenues, which surpassed $500 million in 2012, have nearly doubled every year since the company's creation.

Seeking to consolidate the company in a new headquarters, GoPro moved from its Half Moon Bay headquarters to San Mateo in 2012, needing a larger space to accommodate a workforce that had more than doubled in that year.

Who else from the Peninsula made the 2013 Forbes 400 List? Click here for the list.


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