Florence’s Premier Shareholder Surfs Splendidly Too

In the latest episode of “How Surfers Get Paid” we learned that the majority of our veteran surf industry insiders and our Instagram poll voters dubbed Florence (no more “Marine X”) the “Most Likely to Succeed”.

The “elephant in the room” is this: if Florence does succeed long term, then the innocent, blonde-haired wunderkind that the surf world saw grow up inch by inch is going to become rich — very rich.

We know he’s wealthy. He turned down several deals worth millions of dollars to chart his own course — literally, on a luxe catamaran named Vela, and then figuratively with Florence. He has a vast collection of expensive cameras. He has a large, shiny truck. He has a beautiful oceanfront home. And now, he has his own Vlog.

But as the founder of the company that bears his name, JJF likely has a lot of equity — equity whose shares will blossom into a fortune á la Bob Hurley’s, who is helping John through the venture. Surfing’s crowned prince might be sitting on a surf industry gold mine seen only once every blue moon.

Here’s the catch though: John seems to navigate every chapter of his precocious career with a sort of rare grace. He seems to change in all the good ways and none of the bad. No matter how many 0’s are added to his bank account, I can’t imagine him having an Anakin-like fall from grace.

Most importantly, we finally have an injury-free John in his prime. This edit is a great pre-cursor to what we’re likely to see at Pipeline this week, where ferocious turns will almost certainly be an important factor (given the forecast). In terms of highlights, I loved the wheelie stall at 1:56 and the roll-in at 3:37.

Also, JJF mentioned in a recent interview that his team picks most of the music. Props (again) to the team for the soundtrack.