It\u2019s common perception that cash-rich athletes go broke shortly after their careers are over \u2014 and it\u2019s not necessarily an unfair one, either.<\/p>\n
According to a 2009 Sports Illustrated<\/em> article, within two years <\/i>of retiring, 78 percent of NFL players go\u00a0broke, bankrupt, or both.<\/a> And these are guys who were making an average of $1.9 million a year.<\/a><\/p>\n But there\u2019s a select list of athletes who actually have gone out and created real opportunities \u2014 not just endorsements and figurehead roles \u2014 to set up life after sports.<\/p>\n Here are 6 sports stars making big plays in the boardroom.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/l6YWTDxNmH\/?hl=en&taken-by=kobebryant<\/p>\n Sport:<\/b> Basketball One of the fiercest competitors on the basketball court, former Los Angeles Lakers star\u00a0Kobe Bryant announced a $100 million venture capital fund last year<\/a>\u00a0to invest in media, tech, and data \u2014 and he wants his business career to dwarf his on-court accomplishments.<\/a><\/p>\n “I got tired of telling people I loved business as much as I did basketball, because people would look at me like I had three heads,” Bryant said. “But I do.”<\/p>\n And in true Kobe fashion, the \u201cBlack Mamba\u201d already scored 13 deals<\/a> before going public with the venture. (He says there\u2019s nothing to talk about until they make returns on deals.)<\/p>\n And get this: As a secret partner for ad firm Zambezi,\u00a0<\/em>Bryant was creating ads for\u00a0Vitamin Water during the NBA Finals while playing in said Finals.\u00a0“I wrote that s—,” Bryant said last week.<\/a><\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> I Quit My Day Job, Retired Early & Started a New Venture Using Real Estate: Here’s How<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Sport: <\/b>Football The NFL Hall of Famer set a series of records during his 1993\u20132006 run with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a 12 consecutive Pro Bowl \u2014 tops for most played Pro Bowl in NFL history.<\/a><\/p>\n Since retiring in ’06, the 2003 NFL Man of the Year Award winner has launched his own franchise, 68\u2019s Inside Sports, a fitness and training center in Kansas City. Shields bought it a year after retiring and renamed it with his jersey number. The center setup mirrors the Chief’s facility at the Arrowhead in downtown Kansas City.<\/p>\n And unlike most athletes, he\u2019s actually managed to keep <\/i>his money \u2014 which is rare in today\u2019s day and age. <\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BZ-yy9aF5RC\/?hl=en&taken-by=braithwaite_no1<\/p>\n Sport: <\/b>Soccer The Danish soccer ace made waves in Europe, becoming the first Dane to captain a squad in the French Ligue 1. A natural negotiator, Braithwaite secured his own deal directly with the team owner, earning him the richest contract in Toulouse Football Club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n As a real estate investor, Braithwaite cut his first deal last year, picking up an old castle for $2 million, which he then converted to a mixed-use office-residential space.<\/p>\n He\u2019s since stepped into the U.S. real estate space<\/a>\u00a0(yes, I’m biased) and is currently doing a 16-unit mixed-use development in Philadelphia.<\/a><\/p>\n Like Bryant, Braithwaite has an obsessive temperament that lends itself well to business. https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BZXLoFqjEHs\/?hl=en&taken-by=emmittsmith22<\/p>\n Sport: <\/b>Football Back in 2016, I edited an interview with Emmitt Smith<\/a>, thinking he was the standard superstar athlete who was simply lending his face to a brand.\u00a0But in reality, the NFL Hall of Famer is out in the trenches cutting deals.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought about four Walgreens at about a 7.5 percent to 8 percent cap rate, and I sold them at a 6.8 percent cap right before the market turned,\u201d Smith said in 2016 of his first deal. \u201cIt wasn’t a huge spread, but at the end of the day there was enough to where I made a little bit of money and saw how the process worked.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s since built and sold more than a thousand multifamily units in one market alone. Not too shabby for a guy in a field where most of his peers go broke within a few years.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more than just a former athlete or a Dancing With The Stars<\/em> guy,” he said in that interview. “The sky is not the limit for any athlete or any person, so why would I put any limits on myself?\u201d<\/p>\n Related:<\/strong> How to Retire in 3 Years Through Real Estate Investing<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BZ9XsXhAd6O\/?hl=en&taken-by=paulmalignaggi<\/p>\n Sport: <\/b>Boxing Two-time world champion and award-winning Showtime Sports analyst Paulie Malignaggi is best-known in pop culture for his beef with Conor McGregor over a sparring session gone wrong.<\/a><\/p>\n Outside that mishap, \u201cMagic Man\u201d Malignaggi has managed to amass quite the business portfolio for himself.<\/p>\n According to the New York Post<\/a>, Malignaggi owns \u201cnumerous real estate holdings\u201d in New York and Miami, founded the clothing line Future Legend, and also runs Magic Man Customs, an auto body shop in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not complaining. I\u2019ve made a very good living from boxing, better than any living I possibly could have done,\u201d he said. \u201cHaving said that, you don\u2019t live the rest of your life off the money you make in boxing. You still have to create positive forms of income.<\/p>\n \u201cMoney can make money if you\u2019re intelligent about it and don\u2019t waste it the wrong way.\u201d<\/p>\n Since that story broke, Malignaggi tells us he\u2019s made out well from the restaurant business, including a pizzeria in New Jersey and a restaurant in Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side where he made a nice score.\u00a0\u201cI also play the stock market,\u201d he says. \u201cI try to disperse my investments so that I’m not placing all my risk into one spot so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though he\u2019s been retired for close to a year, he\u2019s shrewdly positioned himself for a $10+ million payday to face McGregor<\/a> in a boxing ring in March, including a possible return match in the UFC.<\/p>\n Not bad for a retired guy.<\/p>\n TODAY I will be signing autographs & taking pictures with fans in #LasVegas<\/a>\u00a0@FODVenetian<\/a>\u00a0& @FODCaesars<\/a>! Info: https:\/\/t.co\/NoWfOVPYAi<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/LblTRoUHIa<\/a><\/p>\n — Joseph Montana (@JoeMontana) August 25, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n6 Sports Stars Who Are Crushing It in Business & Real Estate<\/h2>\n
1. Kobe Bryant<\/h3>\n
\nBusiness: <\/b>Investments
\nKnown for: <\/b>being a five-time NBA champion<\/p>\n2. Will Shields<\/h3>\n
\nBusiness: <\/b>Fitness franchise
\nKnown for: <\/b>The most NFL all-star appearances in history<\/p>\n3. Martin Braithwaite<\/h3>\n
\nBusiness: <\/b>Real estate; venture capital
\nKnown for: <\/b>Donating money<\/a> every time he scores a goal<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI want to win in anything I do, but I want my business career to define me far more than my sports career,\u201d he says. \u201cA sports career is short-lived and is uncertain. Business, real estate, legacy, passing it down to your children, that goes on for generations long after I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n4. Emmitt Smith<\/h3>\n
\nBusiness: <\/b>Real estate development & lending; construction
\nKnown for: <\/b>Being the\u00a0<\/b>NFL’s all-time leading rusher<\/p>\n5. Paul Malignaggi
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n
\nBusiness: <\/b>Real estate; clothing; auto shop
\nKnown for: <\/b>Being a two-time world champion; Showtime Sports TV host; Showtime podcast host<\/p>\n6. Joe Montana<\/h3>\n
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