Mick Fanning Made $200M off Beer; Here’s How (Video)

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Oct 30, 2025 7:56 PM ET

What’s a pro surfing to do, well, after pro surfing?

In 2018, three-time world champion Mick Fanning hung up the jersey for good, ending a career as one of the best competitive surfers of all time at Bells Beach, the longtime Championship Tour location where, as Mick called it, his “career really kicked off.”

He could’ve faded away into obscurity, lived a life sans spotlight with his family (which he did, and continues to do), go on strike missions (also part of his retirement plan), and called it a day. But Mick being Mick, he decided to do a few things with his post-surfing career – including creating a beer company with his mates, which they later sold for a small fortune. Below, in a podcast sit-down, Mick tells the story of Balter.

“We were flying over to Hawaii for the last event of the year in 2014,” Mick explained. “Bede Durbidge rings me, and he’s super nervous. He’s like, ‘I’d love to just chat with you about something.’ He wanted to do it in person. He’s like, ‘Would you like to start a craft beer brand?’ I’m like, ‘Why not?’ What’s the worst that could happen? You get free beer for the rest of your life. So, it just started like that.”

As things do, things started growing. They roped in other Aussie surf luminaries – Joel Parkinson and Josh Kerr – to join the operation. They started having meetings, talking things through, figuring out a business plan with a team of capable individuals.

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One thing that made the brand stand out? The cans. On that point, Mick elaborated:

“I hadn’t been in the craft beer before. So, I’m going into the fridges and seeing all these different craft beers, and to me, it just looked so hard to distinguish what brand was what. So I told the team, ‘Why don’t we just do a white can?’ Then when it sits in the shelf, it just pops. Everything else is so busy and crazy.”

White can, white lightning. Coincidence?

Later, the boys sold the brand and made somewhere around $200 million. Not bad for a little retirement side hustle with a couple buddies.

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

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