Kobe Bryant, the basketball icon who won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday, leaving a legacy that spanned 20 years in professional sports and a growing second career as an investor. #KobeBryant
Bryant was among nine people killed when a helicopter slammed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. He was 41. Also among the victims were his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, another parent and a teammate from Gianna’s travel sports team.
Bryant began investing long before he retired from the NBA. Those who worked with him said he showed the same intensity and work ethic in pitch meetings that he used to show on the court. He’d frequently cold-call CEOs and business leaders -- including former Nike Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker, former Apple Inc. executive Jony Ive, and media moguls Oprah Winfrey and Arianna Huffington -- to learn more about their business.
Bryant’s legacy cut across multiple fields -- sports, entertainment, business -- and social media erupted with messages and lamentations. Nike posted a poignant image in saying goodbye to Bryant, whose nickname was Black Mamba.
Among his most successful investments was an early stake in the sports drink-maker BodyArmor. He reportedly put $6 million into the company in 2014, a stake that was worth an estimated $200 million after Coca-Cola took a majority stake in BodyArmor four years later.
“It’s the same mentality” as playing basketball, Bryant told Bloomberg Businessweek of his investing back in 2018. “You win one championship, you can go on vacation all summer long or be in the gym the next day working on winning the next one. That same mentality carries through to what we are doing today, to me being here now.”
In 2013 he co-founded Bryant Stibel, a venture capital firm, with Jeff Stibel. The firm has invested in more than two dozen companies, including video game publisher Epic Games, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com, Cholula hot sauce, and athlete-centered media platform the Players Tribune.
He dabbled in media as well, launching a production company called Kobe Studios.
Bryant leaves behind a wife, Vanessa, and three surviving daughters -- Natalia, Bianka and Capri, who was born last year.
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