Before Kobe Bryant sadly passed away, he made sure to invest in all the right places. That’s right, Bryant wasn’t just a revolutionary player on the basketball court, he was just as talented in the business side of things. That is why today we will be talking about that side of his career.
What Does Kobe Bryant Invest In? Bryant and his created corporations have collectively chosen to invest in a few different things. It was announced that they had stakes in both Dell and Alibaba along with stakes in Epic Games, Klarna and even The Honest Company. Not to mention the major success that they had with investing into Body Armor and even a part in Coca Cola.
We can’t just leave you with that though. Let’s take a further look at some of these investments.
Body Armor
Kobe Bryant and his company decided to place a lot of faith into Body Armor back in 2014. From that point forward, he and his brand gave them a total of $6 million as investments. Fast forward to 2018 and that $6 million investment was worth $200 million. At the time of this rapid increase, Kobe was the fourth largest investor in Body Armor. Ironically, this massive investment was one of his most successful ones. It happened to be announced on the exact same day that he was able to create the company Kobe Inc. Kobe started a large trend on Body Armor that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. For example, other superstars like James Harden, Andrew Luck and even Dustin Johnson have put investments down on the product. You aren’t going to see a major investment like this made from a modern-day athlete in a long time. Kobe was really in a class of his own when it came to trusting and investing in the right people.
Epic Games
This likely caught your eye if you were aware that Epic Games were the creators of the hit game, Fortnite. Kobe made sure to get himself in on the ground running for this company but surprisingly, his decision wasn’t made because of Fortnite. When the announcement was made that they were putting money into the brand that had one of the most popular games of the decade, everybody just assumed that was the reason. However, Kobe refuted this in an interview a few years ago by stating that they were, in reality, investing in the gaming platform itself and not an individual product. Kobe and his business partner Jeff Stibel said that the Epic engine is and will continue to create tons of new games in the future. The Epic engine in this case is often classified as the Unreal engine. Their investment into this could end up being worth even more down the line. If you are unfamiliar with work that has already been done on this platform, games such as Sea of Thieves, Gears 5 and Borderlands 3 have all been released from here. Stibel and Kobe then decided to invest into Scopely. This is a mobile games company separate from Epic that has found a way to create $250 million in revenue over the years. They created hits such as WWE Champions and Walking Dead: Road to Survival. Yet again though, Kobe made sure to say that they were investing in more than just the games and also the ownership.
Other Investments
Kobe just understood what it took to be not only a successful basketball player, but a legendary personality everywhere in the world. He knew how important the sport was to people overseas so he did everything he could to take his talents there and provide for them. For example, he was able to partner up with Alibaba to create a documentary centered around him called Kobe Bryant’s Muse. The documentary ended up being a wonderful investment for Kobe as tons of people overseas wanted to get their hands on it straight away. It was so successful that he later wound up on a Chinese reality show called Kobe Mentu. All of this overseas work that he did not only helped grow basketball in other countries but it also netted him a beautiful statue that was created right in front of Guangzhou Academy in Guangzhou. Kobe later on invested in himself, creating something called Granity Studios. Granity Studios is a production company that he made to tackle numerous projects when it came to novels and television. They even helped him create a short film that he called Dear Basketball. The film went on to win multiple awards including an Oscar. Yes, the project was that much of a success around the country.
Kobe Offered Investment Advice
Obviously, when you find a way to be as successful as Bryant in terms of investments, people want to know if you have a secret in making this work. With so many interested people listening to everything he had to say, he offered some advice to those looking to make the next step in an investment. He told them to only invest in businesses that they understood themselves. He also wanted them to put their faith in the right people and not just with anybody you thought had a decent product. He wasn’t done just yet either though, as he went on to preach patience and teamwork. Kobe did a phenomenal job of taking business investments and explaining it in basketball terms. He went on to say this as an example, “A lot of time though the course of a game, you may notice a gap in defense or something you can take advantage of offensively. If you attack all at once, you show your hand too early.” This lesson applies tremendously to investing as an entrepreneur. It’s a tough thing to fully understand, but Kobe found a great way to master it and work alongside somebody that he had tremendous trust in. I know that I will be taking any piece of advice he leaves behind.