"Three months later, they sold for three billion" - Metta World Peace on losing out on a fortune because he didn't know what equity means
Metta World Peace was a tough, high-energy player famous for his eccentric persona on and off the court. Despite his questionable behaviour, he had an impactful 17-year NBA career, most notably winning a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010 and a Defensive Player of the Year award in 2004.
However, in the business realm, World Peace had his struggles and disappointments.
Back when he was 27 years old, he missed out on a big business opportunity that he still regrets to this day. The retired forward talked about it on "The 25 10 Show" in December 2024.
"My boy call me, 'Yo, Vitamin Water wanna meet with you.' So, I go to the meeting and I'm blunted up. I was doing a lot of stuff for my community. That was the reason they wanted to give me the opportunity , " he said . "So, they offer me equity in the company, but at 27 years old, I only know what defense is. I didn't know what equity was. Then, three months later, they sold for three billion, and I said, 'Oh, that's what equity is.' Honestly, I had no interest in business, but that's like one of those failure stories . "
Athletes and business
Today's athletes think like entrepreneurs. From the start of their professional careers, they are offered many investing opportunities, including startups, fashion brands, sports drinks, real estate, food franchises, etc. But that wasn't always the case.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, athletes' biggest success was landing a contract with Nike, Reebok or Gatorade. This was primarily because most of them had no financial knowledge. Also, there weren't many opportunities to invest like today, and the money from the contracts was much lower.
In the 2000s and 2010s, more investment opportunities opened up. First, for celebrities, like pop stars, rappers and actors. Then, after the rise of social media and many tech startups, athletes started to get in on the action too, becoming brands of their own — Kobe Bryant , LeBron James and Stephen Curry are the obvious examples.
World Peace as a lesson
Although he missed a big business opportunity, World Peace still had a long and successful career, both on and off the court. With career earnings of more than $83 million from his NBA contracts, he set himself up for life. Off the court, he had endorsement deals throughout his career, most notably his 2013 deal with Chinese sportswear brand Peak and his 2017 Butter Cloth investment, which is still going.
World Peace is also helping startups get off the ground. His latest business launch is a $100 million venture fund, Tru Skye Ventures, where he teamed up with former Boost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols.
Metta's story is still used as an example among athletes to educate themselves outside of their sport. But he wasn't the only NBA player who missed such a business opportunity. Magic Johnson turned down a deal from Nike that seemed unusual at the time. However, today, the decision has him "kicking himself."
To limit those situations, the NBA and NBPA have implemented programs and education for financial and business literature to teach athletes how to invest, save and spend money. Simultaneously, if the athletes don't already have the right financial advisor, the league has them covered, along with an array of investing opportunities that come from the league as an anchor to it all.
Today, the success of those investments is almost a lock. Now, it is easy to mock someone for their obvious mistake, hindsight being 20/20. But just like in any other case, someone had to make the mistake first. Unfortunately for World Peace, he had to take that bullet.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 1, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
