NBA athletes at the highest level, especially once they’ve accomplished plenty in their careers, transcend the game and start expanding their interests. The very biggest stars earn ridiculously large contracts, which means that they have to opportunity to consolidate their wealth and set up their families for generations to come. And that’s exactly what they do, investing their capital in various ways to help it grow as much as they can.
LeBron James recently became a billionaire, at least that’s how much he’s worth, and the King has always harbored dreams of owning an NBA team. In his effort to make that happen, James is a part of investment groups and firms that make use of the capital he invests and grows it. James is involved with RedBird Capital, a private equity firm, which has led to his ownership stake in one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world, Liverpool.
And now it seems they are part of a deal to get involved with another legendary European club. AC Milan is a storied soccer team in Italy, having won the biggest trophy in European football 7 times in their history. And James and Drake, through RedBird, will be involved in a takeover of the club, as per the Financial Times.
“The New York Yankees baseball franchise and a Los Angeles investment fund are investing in AC Milan alongside US private equity group RedBird, which is closing in on the €1.2bn acquisition of Italy’s football champions, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said,” Samuel Agini, James Fontanella-Kahn and Sara Germano of the Financial Times reported.
“The baseball team, owned by the Steinbrenner family, and Main Street Advisors, the LA-based fund that counts among its investors basketball star LeBron James, famed music producer Jimmy Iovine and rapper Drake, will become shareholders in the Serie A team, those people said. James, Iovine and Drake are passive investors in Milan through the fund and have not taken direct stakes, two people said.”
LeBron James famously does a lot of promotional work for Liverpool FC, even going so far as to attend big games whenever he can. His involvement in all of these is mostly just as an investor, though the goal for the King has always been to grow his wealth enough to become an owner in the NBA. And while his legacy may not yet be comparable to Michael Jordan on the court, if he succeeds in ownership, it could be different in that aspect.
