Kurt Naebig

Kurt Naebig was born in Chicago to parents Arthur and Christine. He spent most of his formative years in Chicago and Cicero. Growing up, Kurt was always business oriented: he had numerous paper routes, worked at flea markets, and sold produce door to door. At age 11 he got on his first skateboard and his life changed. He began competing around the Midwest and winning in multiple events. At the same time he was selling skateboard equipment out of his house. Eventually sales got too great to continue from home and he and a friend, Tim Schutt opened up a store in Oak Park, Illinois. Kurt was 13 and Tim was 15 years old at the time. Kurt and the store were written about in many papers and magazines including: People magazine, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic World, and the Weekly Reader. Television coverage came too - from local news shows, to Good Morning America. After the skateboard boom ended in the late 70s, Kurt turned his business interests to the Chicago Board Options exchang