Kobe Bryant invested $6 million in BodyArmor in 2014; years later, his stake was worth around $400 million

In 2014, NBA legend Kobe Bryant invested in the sports drink company BodyArmor and achieved a return on his investment of more than 30 times the amount put in within less than four and a half years. His initial investment had been for about 10 per cent of the company and he eventually invested a total of $6 million. Years later, the value of his share was said by ESPN to be approximately $200 million; the company positioned its products as a healthier option compared to those of its competitors and as a result Kobe Bryant became the fourth-largest investor in BodyArmor, which was expected to reach sales of $400 million by 2018.

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In 2021, after a period of rapid growth, Coca-Cola purchased full control of BodyArmor for a sum of $5.6 billion; according to the Journal, this transaction meant that Kobe Bryant's estate reached a value of about $400 million. The basketball player, who retired from the NBA following the 2015-16 season, had previously served on the company's board before dying in a helicopter crash in 2020. On the day he launched his company, Kobe Inc., Kobe Bryant also announced his investment in BodyArmor; he subsequently set up a joint venture investment firm with entrepreneur Jeff Stibel worth $100 million and founded his own production company, Granity Studios, which won the Oscar in 2018 for Best Animated Short Film for Bryant’s Dear Basketball.

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As Mike Repole, one of the co-founders, pointed out, Kobe Bryant's early investment in the company and his active participation helped it to grow rapidly. "Without Kobe Bryant's vision and confidence, BodyArmor wouldn't have been able to reach the level of success that we did," Repole stated in a press release. Furthermore, according to ESPN, Bryant also wrote and co-directed a number of BodyArmor's advertisements, which included athletes like James Harden, Kristaps Porzingis, Mike Trout and Skylar Diggins-Smith. The return on his investment in BodyArmor eventually amounted to nearly 67 times its original value over eight years, with a compound annual growth rate of 69% during that time.