What is Nik Richie's Net Worth?
Nik Richie is an American blogger who has a net worth of $500 thousand. Nik Richie is best known for being the founder of controversial gossip site thedirty.com and for being formerly married to reality star Shayne Lamas. The Dirty was the subject of much controversy during its heyday. Through a series of transactions, by 2013 Nik no longer owned the site and was simply a salaried employee of the parent company, earning around $75,000. Thanks to a number of defamation lawsuits, The Dirty become somewhat of a testing ground for Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects websites from posts uploaded by third parties to their services.
The Dirty
Nik Richie was born Hooman Abedi Karamian in Hackensack, New Jersey, on February 12, 1979. He launched The Dirty in 2007 as thedirtyscottsdale.com. Initially the site focused on the local Scottsdale club scene and wannabes, but it soon expanded to covering regional and national rumors and gossip.
In September 2007 Richie took on a $650,000 investment from a local entrepreneur named James Grdina. The business was reorganized as "Dirty World LLC", with Richie owning 41% and Grdina owning 59%. Within a few years, a separate Grdina business called iNetwork began paying Richie a salary of $74,500 per year to run the site. For several years Richie attempted to keep his identity hidden, but a 2008 DUI in Scottsdale helped expose his name publicly.
James' brother Jay Grdina was married to Jenna Jameson from 2003 to 2006. Jay and Jenna co-founded ClubJenna, an adult site that was acquired by Playboy for a reported $10-15 million in 2006. In 2009 James sued Jay and Jenna claiming he provided venture capital for them to purchase Penthouse Magazine, an acquisition that did not end up happening. James is also connected to the adult world, having been married to adult actress Bibi Jones since 2014.
The Dirty soon became a hotbed for salacious gossip and a target of lawsuits. For example Richie and the website were sued over a post uploaded by a third party that was titled "Dirty Church Girl." A court ultimately ruled in The Dirty's favor citing section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects websites from liability over content uploaded by third parties.
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In 2014 Richie and the website were sued by an NFL cheerleader/high school teacher named Sarah Jones. Ms. Jones was the subject of two articles in late 2009 that accused her of having a sexually transmitted disease. The posts were attributed to "The Dirty Army," and – most importantly – featured an editorial note that was signed "nik." Jones contacted the site and requested the posts be removed. Richie refused. Jones filed a lawsuit in December 2009 alleging defamation. In August 2010 she was awarded an $11 million default judgment after Richie failed to answer the suit. It was subsequently shown that Jones accidentally filed her lawsuit against the wrong company, a similar-sounding LLC called Dirty World Entertainment which operated a website called TheDirt.com. A second trial commenced that resulted in a mistrial. On appeal Jones was awarded $338,000. Richie appealed that judgement.
In a bizarre twist, just as her civil trial against Richie and The Dirty was proceeding, Sarah Jones was herself indicted on a felony charge of sexual abuse in the first degree, over allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a male minor, presumably one of her high school students. Jones pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor lesser charge and was given a two-year suspended sentence. At the time of the guilty plea Jones was 29 and her former student was 19. In a statement she claimed they were in love and engaged to be married.
In 2014 the Sixth Circuit court of appeals found in favor of The Dirty. Specifically it found that even though the post was signed with an editorial note featuring his name, "nik," the posts were uploaded by a third party and therefore Richie and The Dirty were immune thanks to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
In 2011 Richie was confronted by Sarah Jones while making an appearance on Anderson Cooper's daytime show:
In a 2012 interview with Anderson Cooper, Richie was confronted by a model who had been the subject of one of his website's articles:
In 2013, apparently due to litigation concerns, Nik relinquished 41% of his partnership in Dirty World LLC to Grdina but agreed to continue serving as editor of the website, which by this point was attracting 24 million visitors per month.
In 2016 Richie pivoted The Dirty towards becoming a more traditional celebrity gossip site.
Personal Life
Nik Richie was married to former "The Bachelor" winner Shayne Lamas from 2010 to 2021. They met during a Las Vegas party weekend in 2010 and married after knowing each other for only eight hours. They have two children. Shayne is the daughter of actor Lorenzo Lamas.
In 2012 Richie and Lamas appeared on the second season of the VH1 series "Couples Therapy." In the show's final episode they renewed their vows.
In 2013 Richie released a memoir titled "Sex, Lies and The Dirty."
In 2015 Richie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
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