On NBC's talk show, LeBron James appeared in front of the camera, sitting on a couch in a proper manner, asking questions to an elderly man in the studio. "The first question is, where should I invest next? Can you give me some advice? The second question is, I haven't been very consistent lately, can you give me some advice? ”

The old man in the studio wore glasses and gray hair, looking wise and calm. "I think you only need to invest in low-cost index funds every month, and then you can buy U.S. Treasury bonds for a long time, hold them for thirty or forty years, and there will be no problem, and the returns will be good in the long run," the old man said.

James' relationship with Warren Buffett is extraordinary

To James's second question, the old man laughed. "I've been practicing one-on-one with you for a long time, and it's very helpful to improve your skills," the old man said with a smile, "I'm kidding, once we both jumped the ball, and before I could jump, you were already dunking, so in basketball, I really don't have anything to teach." ”

Who is this old man who can get James to learn from him? He is Warren Buffett, the "God of Stocks", a top billionaire with a net worth of more than $70 billion, and the world's most famous investor. Warren Buffett also has another identity, that is, James's year-old friend and investment mentor. "Our relationship is very special and the camaraderie has been evolving," James said.

In a word, Zhan Huang earned 30 million

Warren Buffett met the basketball prodigy at the beginning of James' NBA career, and although the two didn't see each other often due to their busy schedules, they had a good relationship. Warren Buffett took James to play golf, had dinner with James, and arranged for James to befriend business giants such as Bill Gates. Warren Buffett admires James' talent in business and is willing to help him.

"I talk to LeBron a couple of times a year," Buffett said, "and he's very, very smart, very business-minded." When I first met him, I realized his business flair. ”

Warren Buffett is James's investment guide, James regards Buffett's guidance as an investment bible, he has absolute trust in the "God of Stocks", the company's financial statements will be sent to Buffett for a look, and Buffett's investment advice has indeed benefited James a lot. In 2008, Beats, a headphone company that had just started market development, invited James to endorse its products, and the return was 1% of the company's shares. James was a little apprehensive about the business partnership at the time, and at the age of 24, he was confused about the future of Beats.

Warren Buffett gave James a lot of advice

Just when James was hesitating, Buffett pointed him out and suggested that James accept this cooperation plan as a business investment, and the future benefits would be considerable. Sure enough, six years later, Apple bought a stake in Beats for $3 billion, and James made $30 million. The phrase "stock god" brought James such a big return on investment, and the cost was just to shoot the product advertisement and usually wear headphones to show it.

The strongest investor who turns enemies into friends

Draymond Green, dressed in a white shirt, sat on the couch and talked to the camera lens. "I don't have a specific numerical goal in mind, I just aspire to become a billionaire as soon as possible," Green said, "and that's what I want to do, hopefully by the age of 40." ”

Green is participating in a video show called "KneadingDough," a video show by digital media company Uninterrupted, with Green as the first guest and hosted by Maverick Carter. Maverick Carter? That's right, it's James's iron buddy and business partner, Uninterrupted, a company in which James and Carter invested.

James' investment company launched the show, and the first guest invited turned out to be Green. The Warriors forward clashed with James in the Finals, and both looked like they wanted to tear each other apart, but that rivalry was only on the court, and off the court, James and Green had a business partnership, and they were friends. On Uninterrupted's podcast platform, Green has a "DrayDay" section where Green can talk freely.

James' investment firm runs a column for Green

In the traditional concept of professional players to attract money, signing a commercial endorsement contract is the main model, but James is not satisfied with this. "I know, money isn't an issue, I can sign a bunch of endorsement deals and just wait to get a check, but I want to be able to do something different," James said.

Investment, this is James's choice, and his investment area has expanded to include sports, entertainment, and dining. Whether it is investing in the Premier League, becoming a shareholder of Liverpool, or entering the entertainment industry, joining forces with Warner Bros., or investing in a restaurant chain, it has been a great success. Among the 17 restaurants that James has invested in, they have achieved an 83% increase in sales in 2016 alone, and are expected to exceed $1.1 billion in sales in 2022.

While in Miami, James ran a freshly squeezed juice storefront and saw revenue growth by leaps and bounds

According to Forbes, through partnerships with sponsors and business investments, James will earn $55 million off the court in 2017, which is higher than his annual salary of $31 million when playing for the Cavaliers, and no current NBA player can beat him.

The successes and failures of NBA investors

Not everyone in the NBA is James, and investment failures abound, which requires the guidance of the league. Every year, rookies participate in the NBA's investment and financial management courses, which will be taught by professionals, and the NBA will also invite players who have been successful in investing or have suffered big losses to explain the way of financial management with their own personal experience. Antoine Walker, who lost all his fortunes, once appeared to tell the players about his lessons in investment. "If my experience can keep the players out of financial jeopardy, then what I do is worthwhile, and that's why I'm involved in these activities," Walker said.

This kind of course is not really superficial, but it has a lot of practical value, especially for young players who are new to the professional league. "The teachers who teach us have a lot of experience, they've been through all sorts of situations, so you have to listen carefully to what they're saying," said Ben Simmons, the top pick in the 2016 draft. ”

Simmons vs. James

The NBA limits the draft age and hopes that players will study in college for at least one year, in addition to better laying the foundation for entering the NBA in terms of physical confrontation and tactical literacy, another reason is through the study of book knowledge, BA encourages players to use the offseason to go back to school to recharge after entering the league, stars such as Kobe Bryant and Wei Shao have gone to school to study finance courses in the summer to lay the foundation for investment and financial management.

In addition to on-campus learning, the NBA also encourages players to intern at professional financial institutions to enrich their investment knowledge. During the 2011 shutdown, the NBA launched the Shutdown Handbook, which advised players not to waste learning opportunities during the shutdown, and Iguodala responded to the league's call to work for Merrill Lynch for a while, and Iguodala learned a lot from that experience. "I knew I needed to learn and be prepared for the future, and I loved it," Iguodala said.

The book "Shutdown Manual".

There are a number of areas in which NBA players invest, with real estate being the most prized in the past. Investing in real estate is a common way to manage money around the world, and there are many examples of successful real estate investments in the NBA, such as Olajuwon and David Robinson. However, not every country's big city house prices will only rise and fall, and if there is a house price crash, investors will lose badly.

Walker is a typical failure to speculate on real estate, he played with a total salary of $108 million, and after retiring, he invested in a real estate company in Chicago, originally wanted to make a lot of money, but unexpectedly encountered the economic downturn in the United States, and the real estate market conditions were quite poor, causing Walker to lose all his family property. "The recession swept us in, and we had a lot of real estate projects that didn't go through," Walker recalled, "and to add insult to injury, the banks had to recoup the loans." ”

Compared with the real economy such as real estate, securities are less risky, but only if investors have a vision. Pippen had given $27 million to a financial company to manage, investing in stocks and funds, but the financial company's investment options were too risky, resulting in Pippen's $27 million remaining.

Compared to Pippen, O'Neill's vision of the securities market is more than a notch higher. O'Neal is a real big guy with great wisdom, he was bullish on Google stock in 2004, bought 10,000 shares at $100 per share, and as Google's stock price skyrocketed, O'Neal's income was 11 times the amount he invested.

James and O'Neal are both successful investors

As for the direction of investment in players, Buffett gave his opinion. "Players are usually approached by real estate developers to invest, and once this kind of investment has returns, it is indeed much higher than Treasury bonds, but there are also a lot of losses," Buffett said, "The simplest is often the safest, and holding Treasury bonds for a long time is the best choice." Professional athletes want to make money by maintaining the level of competition, and they don't have enough time to make themselves professional investors, so my advice is to buy index funds and Treasuries, the sooner the better. ”

Conclusion: Everyone can make a big difference in making and losing money

In the field of NBA players, everyone has money to invest and pursue the goal of making money, but some people make a lot of money and some people lose their money, the key is whether they find a way.

Even a talented player like James is not a professional investor, and he needs guidance to reduce risk. Investment and financial management is the way for players to ensure the quality of life after retirement, but this road is not a smooth road, and it requires the joint efforts of the league, players and professionals to go smoothly.