Robert John Burck was born on 23 December 1970, in Cincinnati, Ohio USA, and is a street performer, best known for his Naked Cowboy routine seen on New York City’s Times Square. He performs with a guitar, wearing only cowboy boots, briefs, and a hat. All of his endeavors have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Naked Cowboy? As of mid-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $4 million, mostly earned through his popularity as a street performer. He has also tried his hand at running for the Presidency of the United States, and has become a known personality in politics. As he continues his career, it is expected that his wealth will increase.
Naked Cowboy Net Worth $4 million
Burck attended the University of Cincinnati and graduated with a degree in political science. In 1997 he started busking, and first performed on Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Eventually, he made his way to New York City and regularly performed in Times Square, becoming popular thanks to his theme song “I’m the Naked Cowboy”, and even performing despite cold temperatures. His popularity helped earn him performances in other venues, including the Leinster Rugby Game held in Ireland during 2009, where he sang his theme song in front of 18,000 spectators. In 2014, he acquired sponsorship from Fruit of the Loom, and switched to wearing boxer briefs. The popularity of the Naked Cowboy routine has since expanded into a franchise, including around a dozen naked cowboys and cowgirls.
Because of his popularity as a music icon, he was eventually invited to appear in several music videos. These include “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” by Cake, “When it Comes” by Tyler Hilton”, and “Rockstar” by Nickelback. Cowboy’s popularity even led to him signing with 4Sight Music Productions ,and an album called “Year of the Cowboy”, which was featured on “MTV News”.
In 2009, Burck challenged Michael Bloomberg in the 2009 election for the Mayor of New York City. His candidacy led to a challenge by Jonny Porkpie, also known as the self-proclaimed “burlesque Mayor of NYC”. Eventually, Burck withdrew from the race but the following year he challenged Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election. He mentioned that he was neither Republican nor Democrat, but wanted to put the US Tea Party Movement into the Oval Office.
Naked Cowboy has also dealt lawsuits to a few companies for trying to copy his likeness and image. Mars Incorporated had an animation of M&M character Blue performing in an outfit similar to that of Burck, which led to him filing a trademark infringement suit; eventually the case was dismissed with the two parties settling on an amount. In 2011, Burck then filed a lawsuit against CBS, for using an ad similar to his image that portrayed a sexually charged and drunk individual.
For his personal life, it is known that Burck married professional belly dancer Patricia Cruz in 2013. The couple married the day after Valentine’s and Cruz is also now known as the official Naked Cowgirl.
