You read that right. The title of this post was not just a headline grabber. So why would I say such a thing in the first place? Well let's take a look at what LeBron James has been quoted as saying in the past:
“In the next 15 or 20 years, I hope I’ll be the richest man in the world. That’s one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire..."
Aside from the fact that merely being a billionaire barely gets you on the Forbes 400 these days (far from the "richest man"), I think Mr. James is in for a bit of a surprise if that really is his goal. Garnering praise from the likes of Warren Buffet for having a good head on his shoulders and being praised by Mr. Buffet for being smarter than he was at the age of 21, I think James may be being given a bit too much credit for his business savvy, which could easily lead to overconfidence and being blindsided by the true nature of the markets.
One thing that Warren Buffet probably doesn't realize is how obsessed and in love he is with researching and learning about all things business. He is the Michael Jordan of long-term investing. (should I have said "the LeBron James?...nah) Just because LeBron is projected to become a billionaire through his crazy contracts and endorsements does not by any means mean that he's on track to become the next Warren Buffet. Even for Buffet, it took him 40-50 years to accumulate less than a billion dollars and then experienced exponential growth thereafter. Unless LeBron devotes his existence to exploring large-scale, transformative investments (say the next big thing in tech/biotech) and puts his money where his mouth is (Elon Musk-style), he's gotta be kidding himself.
With the right moves, LeBron could easily be a celebrity billionaire. But even someone as successful in his post-NBA career as Magic Johnson doesn't stand a chance at world domination.
Everyone knows that celebrities have been trying their hand at seed investments in startups. They actually feel poor compared to Silicon Valley titans, and I guess the numbers don't lie. But for celebrities to suddenly think they can become gurus in startup investments or the business world is probably as funny as some Asian kid from Palo Alto High thinking he can become a star in the NBA...oh wait.
Ok, I'll accept the idea that certain outliers may exist (Bono in investing in Facebook, Jeremy Lin in making it to the NBA), which always makes things interesting. But unless LeBron takes Elon Musk's Iron Man suit and does something totally unexpected, don't count on him being one of them.
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