Yahoo Sports
Report: Kobe Bryant turns $6 million sports drink investment into $200 million
Alec Lewis

Yahoo SportsAugust 15, 2018, 6:35 PM CDT

Kobe Bryant purchased a 10 percent stake in sports drink BodyArmor back in 2014. And you best believe he is thankful he did.

On Tuesday, Coca-Cola announced it had purchased a minority stake in the drink. With the purchase, Bryant’s initial $6 million investment is now $200 million, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell. And yes, you read that number correctly.


The drink, which was co-founded by Mike Repole who also co-founded smartwater and vitaminwater, is marketed as “natural” and “healthy,” which has made it a Gatorade competitor.

Bryant made $323 million over the course of his career, according to Rovell’s report. The same day he launched his Kobe Inc. company back in 2014, he also invested in BodyArmor. He is not the only athlete to do so.

James Harden, Mike Trout, Skylar Diggins-Smith and Dustin Johnson are listed on the company’s website as endorsers, among many others. Rovell reported that “as many as a dozen superstar athletes could also have stakes themselves in BodyArmor worth more than $1 million.”

This is just another one of Bryant’s post-playing days successes. There was the launching of his production company, Granity Studios. There was the winning of the animated short Oscar in 2018 for his “Dear Basketball” film.

And now there is this — an investment that has multiplied more than 30 times.

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"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

That's awesome when your investments pay off. Got rings. Got an Oscar. Can't hate on that.

Honest question.

Obviously he's already making the financial choices that, assuming it continues over the next 10-15 years, will put him in that category of prospective owners.

You don’t see it that often but we’ve been fortunate enough to have two major superstars (Kobe and Lebron) who can apply things across the spectrum.

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<--The drought is over

"have fun reveling in your pettiness tho" (C) Dula summing up 98% of OKS

"I didnt finish a damn thing...matter of fact I jerked off after she left."
-Kobe speaking to investigators

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...I'm from the era when A.I. was the answer, now they think ai is the answer - Marlon Craft

if they sold it at costco i'd buy a case.

<--- Big Baller World Order

i gotta give it a shot now

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

Kobe Bryant Announces Investment in Chinese Education Company VIPKID
First education investment ever by Bryant Stibel’s new $100 million fund

August 23, 2016 08:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VIPKID, the leading online education platform for children in China to learn English through teachers in North America, today announced it has received investment from the $100 million fund by Bryant Stibel, the venture capital firm announced by Kobe Bryant and Jeff Stibel at the NYSE on August 22. The investment in VIPKID marks Bryant Stibel’s first ever investment in education, as well as the firm’s second investment in a Chinese company following their first investment in Alibaba in 2014.

Bryant Stibel @kobebryant @stibel invests in @TheVIPKIDLife, their 1st ever edu investment, from their $100M fund.

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Two months ago, the basketball legend met with VIPKID, a company that uses the on-demand economy model to connect children in China with teachers in North America, aiming to give children in China a virtual North American elementary school experience. “Their platform is changing things,” Bryant said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Monday. Bryant said it took him only five minutes of listening about VIPKID to decide he wanted to invest. “It’s a no-brainer for me. We have to look for companies adding value to society, helping kids learn and grow.”

“We value Kobe`s influence in the U.S. and around the world,” said Cindy Mi, founder and CEO of VIPKID. “With this investment, we can strengthen the bridging of resources between the U.S. and China and further improve VIPKID`s strategic plans for international development.”

The connection between VIPKID and Bryant Stibel was facilitated by Learn Capital, the Silicon Valley VC firm that is at the forefront of the global educational technology sector. Earlier this month on Aug. 3, VIPKID announced a $100 million Series C round led jointly by Sequoia Capital and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital. Winning support from Bryant Stibel less than a month later establishes VIPKID as an industry leader and global contender in the online education space.

The new funding will accelerate VIPKID’s plans to fuel efforts in curriculum and product development, and maintain its leading position in content, teaching standards, product experience, and service quality. With the company currently hiring over 1,000 instructors a month across North America, the financing will also help grow its network of teachers. Additionally, VIPKID will also speed up the strategic development of globalizing its entire platform.

For photos relating to the announcement, please see press kit here: bit.ly/vipkidbryantstibelphotos

ABOUT VIPKID

Founded in 2013, VIPKID's mission is to provide the North American elementary school experience to children in China between the ages of five to twelve years old, all from the comfort of their homes. Headquartered in Beijing, the company offers fully immersive one-on-one English language instruction provided online by the world's most highly qualified teachers. Curriculum is aligned to U.S. Common Core State Standards and uses a flipped-classroom approach to foster creativity and critical thinking skills. To date, VIPKID has over half a million registered users. For more information, go to t.vipkid.com.cn.

http://i.imgur.com/vPqCzVU.jpg

i don't know if it's simple attrition or what, but i've become a genuine kobe fan within the last 5 yrs or so, after "hating" the dude for forever. one of the biggest 180's i've ever done on an athlete.

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it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

As a Bulls fan, he was the guy to hate having knocked contending Bulls teams out of the playoffs year after year. Add to that the arrogance and immaturity he showed early on in his career and there's more to hate than Kobe leading a western conference team to 5 rings, 1 ring short of the GOAT, a decade after the Bulls dynasty.

Then these generational talents like Bron and Kobe hone their craft on the court and grow up off the court to the point where you can't keep hating and gotta appreciate and enjoy watching greatness. But yea, it's weird to be a fan of a player you used to hate.

his uberstans are insufferable douchebags, and i poke them with a sharp stick whenever possible.

but the man himself? nah. bit of a cornball, but definitely one of the best citizen-athletes of my lifetime. he good w/ me.

now kobe i genuinely disliked with a passion. it just eventually got to the point where all the other dudes of my generation were done or washed and he was the last one repping from my era.

from there developed a begrudging acceptance, which over the last few years has become authentic fandom. i actually like dude now.

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it is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. - sherlock holmes

OKP is rough on the phone.