Kobe Bryant once landed a sponsorship deal with his father, Joe Bryant’s basketball club in Italy with only one stipulation in mind.
Kobe Bryant, like his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal, understood early on that true wealth goes beyond the contract you sign with a team. Shaq built a Shaq built a $00 million empire through endorsements and savvy investments and Bryant indulged in the same around his 17th birthday. million empire through endorsements and savvy investments and Bryant indulged in the same around his 17th birthday.
the season in the NBA.
He, along with Jeff Stibel, started a venture capital fund with a total investment of $100 million in 2013. Their goal was to invest in the startup and tech industry, and in doing so they made massive profits, none more notable.
than when Kobe’s investment in BodyArmor fizzled out. $200 million for his wife Vanessa Bryant and her family.
While it may seem like it took Kobe Bryant 17 long years to make waves in the endorsement landscape, he actually started out quite young.
In 1984, Joe ‘JellyBean’ Bryant, Kobe’s father, moved his family to Italy. So, for nearly a decade, ‘The Black Mamba’ grew up surrounded by Italians, returning to the United States in Philadelphia at the age of 13.
Kobe Bryant got his first endorsement deal in Italy.
Kobe Bryant and his parents lived in Rieti, Italy and while they were there, Joe switched from one team to another. His second team, Olimpia Pistoia, is where the young Bryant landed his first endorsement deal. It’s not clear how old he was, but he was definitely between 8 and 12 years old.
According to the New York Post, Bean, an incredibly smart young man, convinced the team owner to buy him a red bike. In exchange, he would have to represent the team by wearing his merch, essentially promoting the team while cleaning up the hardwood.
Italy is not only the place where Kobe would learn to pick up some low-key business moves, but more importantly, it was the place where he started playing competitive basketball. When he was 12 years old, he was playing with fully grown adult Italian men.
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