4 Entrepreneurs Who Started Out in Professional Sports

From a positive mental attitude and unshakable persistence to communication skills, professional athletes possess numerous qualities that are highly transferrable to the business world. In this article, look at four former athletes who successfully built their own business empires from the ground up.

1. Tony Hawk

Tony Hawk is credited with revolutionizing the skateboarding world. Throughout his 17-year career, Hawk entered more than 100 professional contests, winning 73, and coming second in 19. He invented more than 80 different tricks. In 1999, Hawk made sporting history, completing two-and-a-half mid-air spins at the X Games.

Tony Hawk is the founder of Birdhouse, a leading global skateboarding brand, and is the creator of his own clothing line.

In 1999, Hawk lent his name to the hit video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, partnering with Activision. It went on to become a bestseller, creating the world’s most successful action-sports video game franchise.

Hawk partnered with several leading brands over the years, including Six Flags, Infospace, Sirius Satellite Radio, Kohl’s, Adio shoes, and Jeep, as well as releasing a New York Times bestselling autobiography. Today, he is the highest-earning, most decorated professional skateboarder in history, amassing a net worth estimated at circa $140 million.

2. Serena Williams

World famous as one of the greatest tennis players in the history of the sport, Serena Williams won a record-breaking 23 Grand Slam titles.

Serena Williams was the highest-paid female athlete of 2016, making a reported $29 million in that year alone. She repeated the feat in the following year, earning her a place as the only female on the Forbes Top 100 Highest Paid Athletes list.

In addition to her extraordinary career in professional sports, Serena Williams is a successful businesswoman in her own right. In 2014, the athlete launched Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on female led companies and businesses built by people of color.

With an estimated net worth of $210 million, Serena Williams is the highest-earning female athlete.

3. Kobe Bryant

The late Kobe Bryant was born in Philadelphia to a family of devout Catholics. At the age of 6, Bryant relocated to Italy with his family, where his father, Joe Bryant, a former NBA star, continued his professional career in basketball, playing for several Italian teams.

Kobe Bryant participated in the NBA draft in 1996. He was selected by the Charlotte Hornets before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, the team he remained with for the duration of his two-decade career.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant was an 18-time All-Star and five-time NBA champion, leading the NBA in scoring twice.

Bryant retired from professional basketball in 2016. Two years later, the animated short film Dear Basketball produced by Bryant’s Granity Studios company won him an Academy Award.

Once asked by a reporter whether he wanted to become a media personality like Oprah Winfrey, Bryant reportedly retorted that he would rather emulate her success with Harpo Studios, the production company she owns. Bryant was well aware that his transition from basketball champion to producer would lead him into an entirely new arena equally as nuanced and competitive as professional basketball.

4. Roger Staubach

Roger Staubach was the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback from 1969 to 1979. In his last year of play, Staubach achieved an 83.4 passing rating, the best of any NFL passer at the time.

Staubach played in six Pro Bowls during a distinguished career in professional football and was an all-NFC choice five times.

Roger Staubach never allowed the fame to go to his head, working as a real estate broker while playing for the Cowboys during off-seasons in the 1970s. As Staubach points out, he was 27 and had three children. With a family to provide for, and a starting salary of $25,000 in 1969, he was making nowhere near what players earn now.

Working under the tutelage of the renowned Realtor Henry S. Miller, a man Staubach describes as a great man and mentor, Staubach founded the Staubach Company in 1977. When he retired from professional sports two years later, he channeled all of his energy and enthusiasm into the fledgling company.

By 2008, the Staubach Company had 50 offices across North America, employing a workforce of 1,100. Staubach sold the company that year in a multi-year deal that totaled $640 million.

Rather than keeping the profit for himself, Roger Staubach doled out equity to his employees, spreading the wealth. By the time of the final payout, he had given away a staggering 88% of the company, putting half of his windfall in a trust fund for his children.

Originally published at https://jasonhanoldhr.com on September 30, 2021.