How Lakers legend Kobe Bryant amassed a $1 BILLION fortune before fatal helicopter crash
KOBE Bryant turned the millions he made during his years with the Los Angeles Lakers into over a billion dollars after retiring from the sport.
He did this through endorsement deals, branching out with a variety of media projects and above all else by founding a venture capital firm that currently has assets of over $2 billion.
Chartering helicopters was one of the few expensive habits Kobe had during his lifetime, as was his collection of cars.
Kobe owned a custom Lamborghini Murcielago that was fitted with an automatic transmission for wife Vanessa ($400,000), a Bentley Continental ($200,000) and an Azure Mulliner ($350,000), a Ferrari F430($200,000) and a 458 Italia ($329,000), a Lamborghini Aventador ($445,000), 1963 Chevy Impala that was a gift from Vanessa, and, as a retirement gift from his friend Snoop Dogg, a purple-and-yellow (and priceless) Pontiac Parisienne Convertible.
"There is finality to my career and now is time to put those plans into motion," Kobe told Forbes at the time.
He then explained how his career had helped prepare him for this next step, despite the fact that he skipped college ton enter the draft.
"I learned not to have ownership in something that you are not going to be able to oversee and manage,” explained Kobe.
“You need to delegate, but ultimately it must be your vision that is driving things.”
The $200 million from his investment in BodyArmor, combined with the $325 million he made as a Laker and the $350 million he took pocketed from endorsement deals, put his fortune at $860 million by 2018.
That extra $120 million, and then some, would come from his stake in Bryant Stibel as well as Granity Studios.