It's been 10 years in the making for Woodman, 37, who started the company in 2002 and built the first camera prototypes in his bedroom with his mom's sewing machine and a drill. According to friends, he would work 18-hour days in his bedroom, only emerging to show off new features and occasionally declare that his product would make him a millionaire.

GoPro came out with its first camera, a 35-millimeter waterproof film version, in 2004. Today, the camera shoots full video in cinema quality HD, allowing anyone from professional surfer Kelly Slater to amatuer snowboarders to capture their adventures. Revenues, which surpassed $500 million in 2012, have nearly doubled every year since the company's creation and Woodman maintains that GoPro has been profitable from day one.

In December 2012, Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Foxconn made a $200 million investment in the company for an 8.88%. At a $2.25 billion valuation, that backing made Woodman, who owns nearly half the company according to sources close to the company, a billionaire.

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