Kobe Bryant had a second act as an investor after retiring as a basketball legend

July 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Following a storied career in basketball, Kobe Bryant 's second act was in investing.

Bryant and Stibel had been investing in companies alongside each other since 2013, but decided to formally start a fund when Bryant retired from basketball, according to The Journal .

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Bryant told CNBC in a 2016 interview that he hoped to be remembered for investing more than basketball in 20 years. Championships come and go, Bryant told CNBC in 2016. "But if you really want to create something that lasts generations, you have to help inspire the next generation," he said.

Bryant poured the same passion and energy into business as he did into basketball by many accounts.

"I got tired of telling people I loved business as much as I did basketball because people would look at me like I had three heads, but I do," Bryant told ESPN in a 2017 interview.

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While Bryant insisted in 2017 that there was nothing to celebrate until the firm cashed out of some of the companies they'd invested in, some of his personal investments were successful. In 2014, Bryant invested about $6 million of his own money in BA Sports Nutrition, a sports drink startup. That investment surged to be worth roughly $200 million when Coca-Cola brought a minority stake in the startup in 2018 , ESPN reported in 2017.

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