Introduction

Pete Dye Jr. was an American golf course designer with an estimated net worth of $50 Million.

Before his death in 2020, Pete designed more than 100 courses worldwide, earning himself a lasting reputation that is likely never to fade. Although he has passed away, his legacy lives on in his work and his design company, which his children now run.

Before Wealth & Fame

Shortly after Pete Dye’s birth, his father became involved with professional golf, building a nine-hole course that he named the Urbana Country Club. While he attended Urbana High School, Pete played and worked at his father’s golf course and eventually won the Ohio State high school golf tournament.

When he turned 18, Dye joined the U.S. Army in 1944 during World War II. After he was discharged, he moved to Florida and enrolled at Rollins College. After graduating, Pete returned to Indiana and became a million-dollar salesman for an insurance company.

In 1958, he won the Indiana Amateur championship, but instead of pursuing a professional golfing career, Pete decided to become a course designer.

Career 

In 1961, Pete Dye started his design career with his wife, with their first project being the nine-hole El Dorado course south of Indianapolis. His first 18-hole course was designed in 1962, also in Indianapolis, at the Maple Creek Golf and Country Club.

Dye designed the Radrick Farms Golf Course for the University of Michigan in 1962, but it didn’t open until ’65. Pete’s first well-known course, Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, was built in 1964 and hosted the 1991 PGA Championship.

In 1986, Dye designed the Franciacorta Golf Club in the Italian province of Brescia, which has now become a wine golf course. Dye is also credited with creating the world’s most terrifying tee shot at the Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Known as Island Green, this hole gained recognition in 1982 during the Players’ Championship.

Dye achieved much throughout his career and founded Dye Designs, which his children now run.

Career Earnings

Pete Dye has designed many courses where some of the world’s richest golfers have played. While he never became as wealthy as Tiger Woods, Dye made substantial money during his career.

• Pete Dye is estimated to have earned roughly $4 million per year during the final decades of his career.
• Per month, Dye is estimated to have earned $32k.
• When broken down further, Dye regularly earned around $8,000 per week.

Pete Dye earned a substantial fortune as one of the world’s best golf course designers.

Real Estate

Before he passed, Pete Dye lived in luxury in an Oklahoma mansion that cost $1.19 million. This home boasted floor-to-ceiling Italian marble, five bedrooms, six baths, and 7,348 sqft of living space. The main living area opens to a large outdoor patio with views of the golf course running along the home’s backyard.

Summary 

Pete Dye created a lasting legacy as one of the most prolific golf course designers in the world. During his career, he designed numerous courses that have since hosted some of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world.

Introduction 

Rachel Zoe is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and writer with an estimated net worth of $30 Million. 

Business Ventures & Endorsements

Zoe’s business ventures and endorsements range from fashion collaborations to brand partnerships and creative projects. In 2007, she co-authored the coffee table book Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty, & Everything Glamour, which reflected her high-glamour and vintage-inspired style. The Rachel Zoe Project launched on Bravo in 2008. The reality TV series looked inside her styling career and personal life.

In 2011, Zoe moved from discussing fashion to launching her self-titled collection of separates, footwear, and handbags. In 2012, Zoe teamed up with her former agent, Robin Moraetes, to open the hair salon DreamDry in New York. The salon offers hairstyling and blowouts only and has a gold-accented VIP room that can be booked for $500 to $4,000 for four people.

ShoeDazzle

In 2013, Zoe joined the online shoe subscription service ShoeDazzle as its Chief Stylist. This may have influenced the start of her fashion subscription box venture, Box of Style, in 2015. Subscribers paid between $100 and $350 to receive Zoe-approved fashion, home, or lifestyle items every quarter. Box of Style was then rebranded to CURATEUR in October 2020.

The Zoe Report

In 2018, Bustle Digital Group acquired the Zoe Report. While the full terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources suggest that it involved a combination of cash and stock, making Zoe a key shareholder in the group.

Rachel Zoe Ventures

In 2021, Zoe established the venture capital firm, Rachel Zoe Ventures, which focused on early-stage consumer brands and technology companies. Her firm also launched the Access Fund, which invests in the consumer, subscription, and creator economy spaces. Zoe’s most recent venture was into the world of podcasting. In 2024, she launched Climbing in Heels, a weekly podcast where she interviews female entrepreneurs.

Divorce Settlement

In September 2024, Zoe and her husband, Rodger Berman, announced their 26-year marriage had ended. The couple had been together for 33 years and had two children, Skyler and Kaius. Their work and personal lives are still closely tied as Zoe’s ex-husband is the president of her company.

No official statements or filings have been made public regarding the settlement, though the negotiations involving business assets were assumed to be complex, according to various sources. The exact terms of the settlement remain confidential.

Real Estate

There are no official reports on Rachel Zoe owning her own home, but we do know that she was previously paying roughly $26,000 per month to rent a 7,448-square-foot, five-bedroom, eight-bathroom property in Beverly Hills. Zoe no longer lives here, but when she was a tenant in 2014, the property was worth an estimated $7.5 million. It’s currently listed for sale at $23.5 million.

Philanthropy

Zoe has helped charities such as Artists for Peace and Justice, Baby2Baby, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, DoSomething.org, Make It Right, Rape Foundation, and Save the Children.

Introduction

Virgil Abloh was an American professional designer, entrepreneur, and DJ with an estimated net worth of $100 Million.

LVMH Off-White Sale

In July 2021, LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company, acquired a 60% stake in Off-White. While the purchase price wasn’t disclosed, Off-White generated around $300 million in annual revenue at the time. In September 2024, three years later, LVMH sold Off-White LLC to Bluestar Alliance, a brand management firm that owns labels like Hurley and Scotch & Soda.

The sale was announced on what would have been Abloh’s 44th birthday. Although no official figures were disclosed, sources suggest that the deal was valued at around $800 million to $1.2 billion. The sale reflected a growing trend in fashion, with management firms buying big-name brands. It also marked the end of a chapter that began with a bold voice in luxury fashion and had to continue without its founder.

Legal Issues

With the success of Abloh’s fashion label came various unwanted legal battles. In 2018, Off-White filed a lawsuit against Brooklyn Lighthouse, a children’s clothing company that had started selling under the name “Off-White Kids.” Abloh’s Off-White company argued that the children’s brand used a confusingly similar name. Little public information is available about how the case was resolved, suggesting it may have been settled privately or withdrawn before trial.

Wish.com Seller Lawsuit

That same year, Abloh and Off-White filed a major lawsuit against 161 sellers on Wish.com for selling counterfeit versions of their products. Abloh claimed that the sellers copied everything from their iconic zip ties and quotation marks to the diagonal stripes and arrow logos. Abloh requested $2 million per infringement, which could have resulted in $300 million in damages. Abloh’s lawyers argued the fakes were damaging sales and hurting the brand’s image. No official outcome was ever made public, suggesting the case was settled privately.

Trademark Lawsuit

In 2019, a New York creative agency, Off-White Productions, claimed it had used the “Off-White” name since the late 1990s. That year, they sued Abloh and his Off-White brand, arguing that the similar name caused confusion and infringed on the Off-White Productions trademark. They said they’d asked Abloh to stop using the name but got no response. In August 2020, a U.S. court dismissed the case, ruling that Off-White Productions hadn’t done enough to prove confusion between the two brands.

Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

The same year, photographer Jawad Elatab sued Abloh’s other company, Canary Yellow LLC. Elatab’s photo of Bella Hadid was reposted on Abloh’s Instagram Story without permission or proper licensing. Elatab claimed the post infringed his copyright and filed a lawsuit seeking up to $150,000 in damages. The outcome of the resolution has never been made public, suggesting it may have been settled privately or quietly dropped, as can often be the case with disputes over social media use.

While none of these lawsuits involved major criminal allegations, they illustrate how fashion brands frequently navigate complex legal cases regarding copyright and trademark infringement.

Walker Wear Trademark Lawsuit

In 2021, April Walker, the founder of Walker Wear, filed a lawsuit against Abloh’s Off-White label. She claimed Abloh had used a “WW” logo on a varsity-style jacket resembling her trademark. Walker argued that the Off-White jacket risked confusing customers, undermining the identity she had spent decades building. She also spoke publicly about the lack of support she received during the dispute, suggesting that being a woman of color in a male-dominated industry made it harder for her to bring about claims.

Parts of the case were dismissed in August 2022, and a complete dismissal with prejudice followed in December of the same year, meaning it was closed permanently and couldn’t be refiled. This kind of dismissal typically follows a confidential settlement between the parties. Although no financial details were released, it marked the end of the legal dispute between Abloh and Walker.

Business Ventures & Endorsements

Abloh’s business interests extended beyond fashion into music, art, and furniture. He was a longtime collaborator with Kanye West and, in 2010, became creative director of West’s Creative Content agency, Donda. He also designed album covers for artists such as A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pop Smoke, earning him respect in both the fashion and hip-hop industries.

Abloh often partnered with other brands, recognizing the business benefits of collaboration. In 2017, he collaborated with Nike on “The Ten,” reworking classic sneakers that sold out immediately. His 2019 IKEA ‘MARKERAD’ collection was all about affordable furniture with ironic touches, such as a rug that said, “KEEP OFF.”

In 2018, Abloh was appointed Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton Menswear, becoming the first Black designer to lead a major LVMH fashion house. He held the role until his death in 2021, using the platform to advocate for greater diversity and inclusion in the luxury fashion industry.

Abloh wanted to create a digital archive of all his projects, and in January 2019, he launched Canary Yellow. The website, designed by Studio Temp, featured all of Abloh’s work and produced limited-edition merchandise and art pieces that reflected his signature style.

Shortly after Abloh’s death, one of his most unusual projects was revealed. His work with Mercedes-Benz on Project Maybach merged car design with fashion. The concept car was a fully electric, solar-powered luxury vehicle. Abloh designed the car in partnership with Gorden Wagener, Mercedes-Benz’s Chief Design Officer. It was more of an art piece than a production model, and it challenged traditional ideas of luxury and the future of design through Abloh’s unique perspective.

Amongst Abloh’s many other partnerships were Evian (sustainable glass water bottles), Levi’s, Moncler, Byredo, and Ssense. Abloh built bridges between fashion, music, art, and design, opening doors for a new generation of creatives.

Philanthropy

Abloh’s philanthropic efforts were rooted in his commitment to diversity and inclusion within the creative industries. In July 2020, Abloh established the Virgil Abloh™ “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund with an initial $1 million donation from himself and several of his brand partners, including Louis Vuitton, Evian, Farfetch, and New Guards Group.

The initiative aimed to support Black students pursuing careers in fashion by providing scholarships and career development opportunities. Following Abloh’s death in November 2021, a Sotheby’s auction of his Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 sneakers raised approximately $20 million for the fund.

The Virgil Abloh Foundation was established in 2023 to continue the work that he cared deeply about. It focuses on giving young people access to creative careers through education, mentorship, and real-world opportunities. In 2024, the foundation launched Abloh Air, a programme that took ten high school students from Chicago to London and Paris. Abloh’s legacy continues to shape and support the next generation of creatives through this kind of work.