When Baron Davis was 19, he signed a $ 2.7 million contract with the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. Now 42, the former basketball star wishes he had started investing that money right away.
“Knowing what I know now, I really wish I had taken on the responsibility of investing more and being more of an angel investor,” Davis told CNBC Make It.
During his 14-year NBA career, Davis won over $ 147 million. These days, he says, he’s investing some of that money in cryptocurrencies and creating a metaverse. He also appears as a small business advisor in the final season of financial services firm Deluxe Corporation. Small business revolution documentary series.
When Davis talks to rookies today, he gives them a simple piece of advice: take at least $ 25,000 and put it straight into a business plan, an investment, or the stock market. He tells them to regard this money as “burnt” – and to do so regardless of what their agents recommend.
” Leave that [$25,000] be a graduate school or a business school for you, ”he says. Because you can actually follow it, and that’s where you’re going to learn. ”
Davis retired from the NBA in 2016, but says he learned the value of investing few years in his NBA career when he bought his first stake in Vitaminwater. In 2007, Coca-Cola acquired Vitaminwater for $ 4.1 billion, earning Davis an undisclosed amount – but reportedly lucrative – return on investment. (A spokesperson for Davis did not immediately respond to CNBC’s Make It request for comment.)
Since then, Davis says, he has “been lucky” with his investment decisions.
The former playmaker was an early investor in Thrive Market, a member-only online grocery startup founded in 2014. The business has grown significantly in the early months of the pandemic and is generating an estimated annual turnover of 120 million dollars. according to Modern retail business. (Thrive Market did not immediately respond to CNBC’s Make It request for comment.)
Davis also founded several start-ups, including retailer The Black Santa Company and the events company Business Inside the Game (BIG).
The takeaway from these experiences: Before you try to invest in a business, determine how you can benefit it. Davis’ “secret sauce”, he says, is his network: he introduced himself on LinkedIn as a “Master connector”, and says he generally uses his connections as a selling point for start-ups.
Regarding his cryptocurrency interests, Davis declined to disclose specific investments – but noted that he was trying to assemble a metaverse that honors talented NBA players who don’t enter basketball. Hall of Fame.
“We want to celebrate them in our metaverse and our Hall of Fame story,” he says.
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