Former tennis star James Blake helped launch a pickleball team with a $100,000 investment; two years later, co-owner Marc Lasry estimated the franchise could be worth millions

In 2021, pickleball was often mocked as a retiree pastime, and a hedge fund billionaire invested in a little-known team. Two years later, that investment was being touted as a big winner, and it’s no stretch of the imagination. Former tennis star James Blake and Avenue Capital Group co-founder Marc Lasry bought a Major League Pickleball team (the one now known as the Milwaukee Mashers) for $100,000 before the league launched in 2021, and in May 2023 Lasry told Bloomberg it was worth $10 million. That figure is Lasry’s own estimate, not a Forbes valuation, and it’s a jump that, for a particular breed of American investor, is hardly surprising.

The $100,000 bet that didn't stay small