The retired NBA star will unveil on Monday his venture-capital fund, a $100 million vehicle for investing in technology, media and data companies. Bryant, who turns 38 on Tuesday, isn't going it alone: He is partnering with 43-year-old Jeff Stibel, a longtime entrepreneur and investor who was introduced to Bryant by a mutual friend. They have named their firm Bryant Stibel and will be based in the Los Angeles area.
The two have been invested in 15 companies since 2013, but only after Bryant's retirement from basketball have they decided to formalize their relationship and fund. Current investments include sports media website The Players Tribune, videogame designer Scopely, legal-services company LegalZoom, a telemarketing-software firm called RingDNA and a home-juicing company called Juicero.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Gaaark on Monday August 22 2016, @09:47PM
someone else with a lot of money is doing useless things that will not contribute to society.
Sheesh, throw some money at open source SOMETHING. Make a REAL difference, instead of just making more and more and more money.
Thanks, Kobe Useless.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 22 2016, @11:32PM
It's actually (rare) trickle-down at work: paying a bunch of entrepreneur-wannabe's to make something that's likely to flop, but giving them income in the meantime.
It may not be the best form of rich-to-rest income distribution, but it's better than say investing in Asian factories.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 23 2016, @01:53AM
By sports star standards, this is stellar, as good as it gets. A lot of those guys can't manage money and are broke soon after they retire/lose a contract. Watch an episode of Ballers for an inside look if you can stomach it.