Who is Dave Hester?
Dave Hester, known as “The Mogul”, is a notorious TV personality, being one of the main leads in the A&E reality show, “Storage War$”. Dave was born on 23 July 1964, in the Camp Pendleton US Marine Corps Base close to Oceanside, California, USA. If you squiz through his social media pages and public comments, you may notice that he is the kind of man that some people love to hate. For some Dave might be difficult to like, yet people are captivated by his outrageous behavior, and the success of the show proves they keep coming back for more.
Dave Hester’s background and family life
Dave’s father, who was of German and Irish descent, served in the US Army, and after returning from Vietnam, he purchased and sold valuables at auctions to supplement his military income. Dave’s mother was of Mexican descent. Dave is married to Donna Hester and although he posts many photos of her, there is little said about her in the comments. The nitty-gritty of his family life is kept a well-hidden secret, and the only family members known are his son Dave Jr., who has featured in the show and manages the online side of the business, and his brother who appeared in season two – there is reportedly some rivalry between the two brothers. Dave’s son, Dave Jr.’s ambition is to own a mobile home to enable him to become a travelling auctioneer, which would afford him greater opportunities to attend many auctions.
Judging from Dave Hester’s Instagram personal profile called “@davelovespugs” Dave’s ‘extended family’ are his two pugs, Pinky and Violet, which often accompany Dave on his business and other trips, and he gets actively involved in promoting pug fundraisers through social media. It is on this Instagram profile that he posts items of a more personal nature, for instance photos of his wife and outings such as fishing trips and holidays to Brazil, Alaska etc. Dave, his wife and pugs currently live in Santa Ana, California.
#YUUUP! hanging out with the Pugs! Waiting for the new episodes of #storagewars on #aetv! pic.twitter.com/luyfJSNFFg
— Dave Hester (@davethemogul) January 17, 2019
Apart from his Instagram profile, Dave has several other social media profiles on which he is active – on Twitter he has clocked up more than 86,000 followers, and has a Facebook page where he posts more of his business-related news, and has over 96 000 ‘likes’.
How did Dave Hester’s success story come about?
From the age of five Dave accompanied his father to garage sales and auctions, which equipped him with the know-how to begin his own sideline enterprise at a mere 14 years of age. He started buying machinery and tool kits, and selling them off to military base stores in Orange County, California. Dave matriculated from San Pedro High School in 1997 and, although he chose to follow in his father’s footsteps and not continue his studies, he had far higher aspirations, which enabled him to get where he is today.
In the early ‘80s, Dave started off as a bid-catcher or ringman for an auction house, and was soon recognized by his call of “Yuuup!” which he shouted out loudly to locate bidders at an auction and get the auctioneer’s attention. To this day that catchword remains his trademark and he has painted it on his truck in big letters, and flaunts it on his caps and T-shirts. Dave later became a buyer for the auction house, buying and selling millions of dollars’ worth of goods annually. In 1992 he acquired his license as a bonded auctioneer, and later opened the Newport Consignment Gallery in Costa Mesa, California.
Posted by Dave Hester on Thursday, March 28, 2013
After Dave was convicted of a DUI charge in 2006, he was forced to provide community service at a local goodwill store, but the plus side was the potential he recognized in this type of business, which prompted him to turn his furniture store into the Rags to Riches Thrift Store. In 2011 Dave closed down this shop, and now runs Dave Hester Auctions. With his decades of auctioneering experience behind him, he provides an all-round service from self-storage and removals to estates/charity & speciality auctions. Plus he acquired one of the lead roles in “Storage War$”.
About “Storage War$” and Dave Hester’s role in the show
This reality TV series premiered on 1 December 2010; according to Californian law, if a storage locker goes unpaid for three months, or abandoned, an auctioneer is entitled to sell the contents as a single lot via a cash-only auction. “Storage War$” puts the spotlight on professional buyers who visit storage facilities throughout Southern California, with the aim of getting the best value for the lot. They are given only five minutes to scan the contents from the doorway and, without touching any of the goods, they place their bids at an auction. Once the auctions are finalized, the winning bidders sift through their stock, figuring out estimated prices and consulting the experts should they require an appraisal of unusual or valuable items. The running totals are shown on a screen, and at the end of each episode, a final count highlights the buyers’ net profit or loss. This reality TV show wrapped up it’s 11th season in March 2018 and on 7 November launched the 12th.
Dave is infamous for creating a ruckus with his fellow cast members by outbidding them or raising bids on units he doesn’t really want, particularly in opposition to Jarrod Schultz, and the adept Darrell Sheets, who has been in the field for 40 years. It’s not unusual to hear insults flying between them in all-out bidding wars. Generally it seems that he has the most unfavorable relationship with the other buyers who are Brandi Passante, Ivy Calvin, Rene Nezhoda, Mary Padian and Laura Dotson.
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The lawsuit Dave Hester filed that caused him to get fired
In December 2012, Hester filed a lawsuit against A&E and Original Productions with claims including allegations that the producers had staged and planted appraised items in lockers. He was subsequently fired from the show, and then sued the producers for wrongful termination. In March 2013 A&E won a partial lawsuit as the judge tossed out Dave’s claim of unfair business practices. In September, 2013 one of his claims was approved and the court ruled that the case could move forward. In July 2015 A&E and Dave reached a settlement, and as a result, Dave did not appear in the fourth season of “Storage War$”, but returned in August 2014 for season five.
What is Dave Hester’s net worth?
Dave is certainly living proof of the saying ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ as his wealth has largely been procured from trading unwanted goods. This enterprising mogul’s years of experience in the game and his business savvy have earned him a neat nest egg through the leveraging of his business off the TV show, and vice versa. He generally seems to coin the highest profits on the show, with the greatest documented being $90,000 when he purchased a unit which had a collection of newspapers that reported Elvis Presley’s death. One of his most notable acquisitions was a painting by the Californian impressionist, Jack Wilkinson Smith, titled “The Golden Pool” which Dave bought for $750 and sold for $155 000. According to reputable resources, he earns approximately $25,000 per episode of “Storage War$” and this, combined with his auctioneering activities, has grown his net worth to an estimated $4 million. That’s a pretty cool sum. Yuuup!!
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