How Richard Rawlings Achieved a Net Worth of $15 Million
Richard Rawlings is an entrepreneur and media personality who is best known as the star of the auto television reality series ‘Fast N’ Loud’, which is aired on the Discovery Channel. His business interests include the Gas Monkey Garage, a grill restaurant, several music venues, and a range of branded products. It is the diversity of this man’s career and business interests that mean he has become so successful. It is believed that he has now accrued an estimated personal net worth of $15 million. Here is an overview of how Richard Rawlings got so rich.
Early Years
Born on March 30, 1969, in Fort Worth Texas, Richard Rawlings was brought up in an environment surrounded by cars. His father constructed cars and took him along to auto shows, so Rawlings’ interest in the auto industry started at a young age. This is probably what inspired him to launch a career related to cars in his future. However, he did not initially pursue a career in this industry. He attended Eastern Hills High School and then had several jobs, including a law enforcement officer, a firefighter, and a paramedic. He then owned his own printing business before even thinking about a career in cars. In fact, it wasn’t until much later in his career that Rawlings focused on cars as a career, by which time he was into his second marriage.
Monkey Garage
Rawlings did not launch the Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas until 2002 when he sold his printing business. His new company created automobiles for worldwide clients. The business was a big success, and it opened doors to new and exciting opportunities. It was because of his success in this industry that he was offered the opportunity to star in the reality series ‘Fast ‘N Loud.’ This series is about Rawlings and his crew from the Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, Texas. It follows them as they search for run-down cars to restore for profit and then their journey through this restoration process. This series aired for the first time on June 6, 2002, and has now run for 14 seasons, as of May 2019.
It is thanks to this series that Rawlings began earning big money from both his garage and from the television series. Earning more also gave him the opportunity to expand his business interests. Entrepreneur describes how he turned what was initially just a single garage into a multimillion-dollar brand that spans several industries. His brand, Gas Monkey, now includes restaurants, apparel, home goods, accessories, and concert venues. According to the article, Rawlings took an approach that involved moving fast. Once he had decided on a new business venture, he jumped straight in and put everything into a successful launch. He then didn’t waste time before expanding each of the different aspects of his brand.
Other Ventures
His restaurants are the perfect example of this. His first Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill opened in Northwest Dallas in 2013. Just six months later, in March 2014, he had opened his second location in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He has since opened two further restaurants in Texas outside of Dallas. However, not all of Richard Rawlings’ businesses have been a success. He began a new restaurant venture, called Richard Rawlings’ Garage, in 2016. He opened this restaurant in Harker Heights, Texas. Unfortunately, the business was not a success and it closed its doors permanently in March 2019.
Some of his business ventures have involved Rawlings collaborating with other professionals. When he wanted to launch a concert venue, it involved joining forces with several people who had experience in different aspects of the business. This meant that their combined money, experience, knowledge, and skills gave the business venture a greater chance of success. Those with whom he collaborated included House of Blues Las Vegas manager Alex Mendonsa, brothers Mike and Dan Flaherty of United Commercial Realty, and talent buyer Peter Ore, who is the former Vice President of Talent Live Nation Denver. The Gas Monkey Live venue was launched in October 2014 and Social Distortion, a punk rock band, performed at the opening event. The venue can hold up to 3,000 people and it is located in Northwest Dallas.
The Gas Monkey brand includes a range of apparel for both men and women, and this is predominantly sold online from the official Gas Monkey Garage. These clothes feature the Gas Monkey logo and are available in a range of styles and colors. An interesting, and rather different, side-line of the Gas Monkey brand is the range of energy drinks and tequila. There are three energy drink products; an original flavor, a light option, and a tropical flavor energy drink. Rawlings has also launched a Gas Monkey Brand tequila, and he has hinted that he has plans to expand on this area of his business in the future.
Current Life
Now, Richard Rawlings has an estimated personal net worth of $15 million. This has come from his garage business, his starring role in Fast ‘N Loud, and from his various other business ventures. Each of these is an ongoing success, so it is possible that his personal net worth will increase in the future. In his personal life, Rawlings has been married three times, but twice to the same woman. He first married Karen K Grames in 1993 before divorcing the following year. He then married Suzanne Marie Mergele for the first time in 1999. The couple divorced in 2009 but decided to give marriage another try in 2015. Sadly, things didn’t work out and the couple separated for the second time in 2019. Richard Rawlings continues to live in Dallas, Texas and he continues to maintain a hands-on approach to all aspects of his business. He has many plans for the future, so he is an entrepreneur to watch.
