Even Kobe Bryant couldn’t play basketball forever. After 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, the five-time National Basketball Association champ has pivoted, turning a longtime interest in investing into a full-time job. Bryant recently announced that he’s teamed up with entrepreneur and investor Jeff Stibel to launch a $100 million venture capital fund.
This news generated plenty of buzz in the wake of Bryant’s retirement after the 2015–’16 NBA season: He and Stibel, who are putting up the money themselves, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on August 22. But the two have been investing together since 2013, when they founded Los Angeles–based Bryant Stibel to fund companies whose products and services marry technology, media and data.
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