Dave Hester

Billed as "The Mogul," auction buyer and consignment store owner Dave Hester quickly developed a reputation as the man everyone loves to hate on the popular reality series, "Storage Wars" (A&E, 2010- ), which depicted a group of professional buyers who bid on abandoned storage lockers that go up for sale at auction in and around Southern California. Debuting in December 2010, "Storage Wars" was an immediate hit and quickly became the most watched series on A&E, thanks to the quirky personalities of the four buyers. Alongside Darrell "The Gambler" Sheets, Jarrod "The Young Gun" Schultz and his controlling wife Brandi, and Barry "The Collector" Weiss, Hester was catapulted into celebrity status. His matter-of-fact persona and delight in driving up bids for his rivals turned Hester into the show's de facto villain, complete with the catchphrase, "Yuuup!" that he yelled whenever bidding on a locker. In fact, it became so popular that Hester sold everything from T-shirts and hats to coffee mugs and ringtones featuring the catchphrase. Meanwhile, Hester operated a massive warehouse-like store called Dave Hester Auctions in Costa Mesa, CA, which was stocked with items from the 20-30 auctions he attended each week and hauled away with his fleet of white trucks that were naturally all emblazoned with "Yuuup!"