Stab Magazine | Surfing's only billionaire gets the Stephen Colbert bump
320 Views

Surfing’s only billionaire gets the Stephen Colbert bump

Words by Morgan Williamson  Mr Colbert’s an American icon. The Colbert Report was the best late night television show to run, maybe ever.  The tasteful mix of conservative actions and liberal ideals in the midst of satire, relevance and humour has always been my favourite way to indulge in current affairs. Stephen started out as a correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart, then took the top late night hour spot on Comedy Central with his own daily news recap. Now he’s taken the place of David Letterman on The Late Show and if it’s not apparent, I fucking adore him. Last night GoPro CEO and surfing’s first billionaire came onto the show, him and Colbert had a little chat, did a patented fist bump and learnt the story of Nick Woodman’s rise to the triple comma club. It’s hard to hate on Nick Woodman, he seems like generally good guy. He’s a frother, a little bit nerdy and has business sense. Really it’s the perfect combination for success. If you can gain anything from this, let it be a bit of inspo. Failure’s inevitable and that inevitability breeds success. Complacency’s a soul siphoning succubus and being comfortable’s only relative. “When you’re looking for inspiration,” Nick says, “you follow your passion.” As far as surfing goes, man we are stream lining into the mainstream. Surfing’s becoming a go-to, should we thank/blame Mick or the shark? I have to assume the shrinking of the bikini bottom has something to do with it. This lifestyle we live and aspire to’s no longer behind the curtain of contempt and hasn’t been for quite sometime. Is more money going into surfing a good thing? That depends who you talk to. But GoPro was corn fed on stoke and that one little camera and camera mount that gives you the I’m going to snake this guy, feeling, has turned this Nick into a fucking billionaire. He bleeds green and that must be nice.

news // Mar 8, 2016
Words by stab
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Words by Morgan Williamson 

Mr Colbert’s an American icon. The Colbert Report was the best late night television show to run, maybe ever.  The tasteful mix of conservative actions and liberal ideals in the midst of satire, relevance and humour has always been my favourite way to indulge in current affairs. Stephen started out as a correspondent on The Daily Show with John Stewart, then took the top late night hour spot on Comedy Central with his own daily news recap. Now he’s taken the place of David Letterman on The Late Show and if it’s not apparent, I fucking adore him.

Last night GoPro CEO and surfing’s first billionaire came onto the show, him and Colbert had a little chat, did a patented fist bump and learnt the story of Nick Woodman’s rise to the triple comma club. It’s hard to hate on Nick Woodman, he seems like generally good guy. He’s a frother, a little bit nerdy and has business sense. Really it’s the perfect combination for success. If you can gain anything from this, let it be a bit of inspo. Failure’s inevitable and that inevitability breeds success. Complacency’s a soul siphoning succubus and being comfortable’s only relative. “When you’re looking for inspiration,” Nick says, “you follow your passion.”

As far as surfing goes, man we are stream lining into the mainstream. Surfing’s becoming a go-to, should we thank/blame Mick or the shark? I have to assume the shrinking of the bikini bottom has something to do with it. This lifestyle we live and aspire to’s no longer behind the curtain of contempt and hasn’t been for quite sometime. Is more money going into surfing a good thing? That depends who you talk to. But GoPro was corn fed on stoke and that one little camera and camera mount that gives you the I’m going to snake this guy, feeling, has turned this Nick into a fucking billionaire. He bleeds green and that must be nice.

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

The Most Controversial Stab In The Dark Ever

174 waves and 14.5 hours in the brine later.

Mar 4, 2026

WSL Drops New 2026 Challenger Series Schedule… With A Twist

Pipeline: out. Cloud 9: in?

Mar 3, 2026

Watch: The Finale Of Stab In The Dark X Starring Kelly Slater

The winner is...

Mar 2, 2026

Kelly Slater + Dane Reynolds Talk Lineup Psychosis And The Untold Stories Of SITD X | StabMic Episode 03

The 11x World Champ rings in from NZ.

Feb 27, 2026

SEOTY: Liam O’Brien Stars In AMALGAM

Surfing's beloved intellectual lunatic takes a tour of the Southern Hemisphere.

Feb 26, 2026

“Everyone Knows I Was A Motherfucker At One Time. I’m Not Afraid To Own Up To That.”

Makua Rothman on catching the wave of his life while high on Oxys, the issues…

Feb 25, 2026

Stab In The Dark X Predictions From Mason Ho, Jake Paterson, Joe Turpel And More

“Some good history there. If it happens we are truly in the year 2026.”

Feb 25, 2026

Filmmaker Andy Woodward’s Front-Row Seat To The Aftermath Of El Mencho’s Death

"There's cars on fire everywhere. It's war zone shit."

Feb 25, 2026

Watch: Yago Dora, Eithan Osborne & Shane Borland Bless New Saudi Wavepool With NBDs

Where billionaires get their wings.

Feb 24, 2026

Could We Please Ask A Significant Favor?  

SITD X requires more literage.

Feb 24, 2026

What Surfing Should Learn From The Winter Olympics

Thank fuck that’s not us!

Feb 22, 2026

World Champs And WSL President Reject Surfing’s New Olympic Qualification System, Demand Revisions From ISA

Yago Dora, Caity Simmers, Ryan Crosby and more take a stand.

Feb 21, 2026

Hemp In The Athlete Zone, Pipe Master On Hypto Kryptos, Freesurfers Monetize Loneliness

This is the new order of operations — a Q1 industry report.

Feb 20, 2026

“It Was Like the Fourth of July. The Kitchen Sink’s Shattering. The Curtains Are On Fire. I Was Just Swimming Though Black Smoke.”

Kolohe Andino recalls the Gold Coast apartment fire that almost took everything.

Feb 20, 2026

Watch: Dane Reynolds Quizzes The Reigning World Champ | StabMic Episode 02

Yago Dora on his title year, the Volcom x Dad split, EAST over SITD, CT…

Feb 19, 2026

What I Learned Shooting Stab in the Dark with Kelly Slater

These innocuous observations from 11 days working with the greatest surfer of all time. 

Feb 18, 2026

Why Aren’t There More European Freesurfers?

Charly Quivront's new film, 'Who Is Charly?,' helps explain it.

Feb 18, 2026

Ferrari Boyz: Mikey Wright’s Apocalypse-Proof Ram 3500 Mega Cab

A daily driver with a 9-ton towing capacity.

Feb 17, 2026
Advertisement