As it turns out, LeBron James‘ and Beats by Dre have collectively made an absolute killing. Multiple sources are now indicating the former’s investment in the latter resulted in – get this – a US$700 million payday.
Up until this point, many had assumed the NBA superstar held nothing more than a small stake in Beats Electronic; a stake which he received circa 2008 in exchange for being an ambassador. When Beats Electronic was acquired by Apple in 2014, it was widely reported James secured an equity cash payout of approximately US$30 million.
Those initial reports were, however, off the mark due to one crucial detail. A detail few were privy to. James wasn’t just an ambassador with a small stake as compensation… he was also a silent investor. So when old mate Tim Cook came knocking at Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s doorsteps with that juicy US$3 billion cheque, King James’ cut was naturally a little more than US$30 million. +2,233.33% more to be precise.
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This staggering revelation comes to light thanks to former teammate and close friend, Kendrick Perkins. Perkins recently appeared on the Runnin’ Plays: A Golden State Warriors Podcast where he spilled the multi-million dollar beans.
“The crazy thing to me about LeBron James is that he is the chosen one in life,” Perkins stated on the podcast.
“I tell him all the time, ‘I really hate you. I hate you!’ And he’ll be like ‘What you mean, Perk?’ ‘I hate you because everything you touch turns into gold!”
“Even when we were gambling with playing cards, he would always win… He really is the chosen one.”
No arguing with that there. This isn’t exactly the first time James’ investment outside of basketball has paid off in spades. In 2011, he acquired a 2% stake in Liverpool FC worth around US$6.5 million. Fast forward to 2018 and that very same stake had a revised value of US$32 million.
Safe to say both LeBron James and Beats by Dre are living fairly stress-free relative to the rest of us schmucks.
