On January 26, 2020, America as well as global sports fans were shaken with the news that basketball legend Kobe Bryant passed away. He and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a personal helicopter crash.
Kobe left behind a huge sports legacy. He is considered one of the greatest NBA professional basketball players of all time with 5 championships. Besides, he also has many large unfinished business projects.
After Kobe’s death, his family put the pain aside to continue the business career that the basketball legend conceived before “stopping” at the age of 41. In 2020, the Bryant family earned more than 20 million USD from different sources.
At that time, Forbes assessed that Kobe’s death even made goods, products and memorabilia related to him sell better. Most of the $20 million comes from sales of Nike shoes and clothing, but in addition, Kobe’s autobiography published in 2018 also sold up to 300,000 copies in 2020, an increase of 10 times compared to the number of books. sold throughout 2019.
Kobe passed away leaving a fortune of about 680 million USD to his family including his parents, wife and 3 daughters. But their assets increased by another $400 million in 2021, after a famous merger and acquisition.
In 2014, Kobe Bryant spent $6 million to buy 10% of the shares of BodyArmour – a young sports drink company. This basketball legend also allows BodyArmour to use his image and name for product promotion campaigns.
Unexpectedly, BodyArmour grew so strong that in 2021, it was bought 85% of its shares by giant Coca-Cola for… 5.6 billion USD. Currently, the brand has been completely changed to Bodyarmor SuperDrink. So in just 7 years, BodyArmour’s value has increased dozens of times.
Kobe Bryant (right) has invested in BodyArmour since 2014, and his family earned $400 million after Coca-Cola bought the brand
The talented and secretive businessman
The reason Kobe Bryant’s investment could be so successful is thanks to the strategic talent of businessman Lance Collins. This businessman can be considered the “tycoon” of the American sports drink industry.
Before collaborating with Kobe to create the “super product” BodyArmour, this businessman also achieved great success when creating the Fuze Tea brand, which was later acquired for 250 million USD, for The partner is still Coca-Cola.
After Fuze Tea, Collins, along with businessman Mike Repole, founded BodyArmour. This beverage company is successful in promoting the image of its drink as a healthier alternative to Gatorade and Powerade – drinks that are considered too strong. Kobe saw a good deal so he decided to buy 10% of the shares, then multiplied his account nearly 10 times.
Luck is coming to Travis Kelce, football player of the Kansas City Chiefs team. In the Super Bowl final – The American Football Super Cup Final was watched by hundreds of millions of people, Travis Kelce was the one who scored the first goal, opening up a historic 38-35 victory for the Kansas City Chiefs over the Philadelphia Eagles. . Thanks to that, this team was crowned the country for the second time in 4 years.
Impressed by Travis Kelce’s image, businessman Lance Collins approached him with a lucrative offer. The cooperation model that Collins proposed to Travis is similar to what he did with Kobe.
Obviously, that proposal received a response from the rugby star, and the two sides are eagerly making plans for a major business cooperation. The two sides aim to develop a new beverage brand, with a subsidiary called Casa Azul Spirits.
Their goal is nothing more than enhancing the brand, then selling to giants in the beverage industry such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi. And of course, a 33-year-old football superstar like Travis Kelce – who has the ability to play at least 3 more seasons. Until the day Kelce retires, he can again earn a large sum of money from this effortless second job, instead of playing rugby games full of injuries.
Legends who passed away still make a lot of money.
Forbes page offers a list of American legends who, despite their death, still “flow” millions of dollars into their accounts every year. King of Pop Michael Jackson is the most typical case, and is the leader when he earns 48 million USD each year, mainly from royalties of his songs.
Behind Jackson are writer Dr.Seuss (33 million USD), comic book artist Charles Schulz (32.5 million USD), golfer Arnold Palmer (25 million USD) and “King of Rock & Roll” Elvis Presley ( 23 million USD).
Kobe Bryant ranks right behind on this list with 20 million USD per year. However, if you add in the huge amount of money from the resale of BodyArmour worth 400 million USD, Kobe is the number 1 person.
Travis Kelce makes a lot of money and is still greedy.
Travis Kelce is one of the brightest athletes in the American football league. However, in 2022, the Super Bowl champion “only” earned $10.5 million and increased to $12.2 million this year. He has 2 years left on his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and his salary promises to increase to 13 and 17.2 million USD.
If his career ends in 2025, Travis Kelce will pocket $74 million from his contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, from 2021 to 2025. Previously, from 2016 to 2020, Kelce earned $46.8 million, and from 2013 to 2016, it was 3.1 million USD.
