Friday, May 15, 2026

Racing, Sneaker, Media Legend Ken Block Dies

  • Ken Block founded sneaker brand DC Shoes and Hoonigan Racing Division.
  • He passed away on Monday in a snowmobile accident.
Ken-Block-Hoonigan-Racing
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The sports world lost a unique figure on Monday in Ken Block, who died at age 55 in a snowmobile accident.

Block made a mark in both rally car racing and the sneaker world.

  • He co-founded DC Shoes in 1994, bringing designs inspired by athletic shoes to the skateboarding world.
  • The company was sold to Quiksilver in 2004 for a reported $88 million.
  • Block then pivoted to rally car racing, where he became a legend, winning 16 national titles from 2005 to 2014 and founding the Hoonigan Racing Division rally team in 2010.
  • He won five X-Games medals and was one of only four Americans to earn points in the World Rally Championship, a global competition run by the FIA.

Block had a net worth of around $230 million as of June 2022. 

His daughter Lia, 16, has raced with Hoonigan since she was 11, and his wife Lucy made her all-wheel-drive racing debut last March.

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Extreme Media

Block grew his presence in racing and extreme sports through his YouTube channels.

His “Gymkhana” series on driving performance cars in urban environments amassed more than 550 million views and inspired an Amazon docuseries.

Block’s YouTube channel has just shy of 2 million subscribers — and Hoonigan’s has more than 5 million.

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