Athletes Who Are Business Stars

Professional athletes haven’t always been paid huge amounts of money. In the 1960s, many players in the NBA, MLB and NFL had to have full-time jobs in the offseason to make ends meet. 

Some of those athletes were among the first group of sports stars to turn athletic fame into riches once their career was over, through shrewd business investments and investing in themselves. 

Now, athletes start building business empires during their playing days. These are the athletes (active or retired) who are the biggest business stars, based on their entrepeneurship, investment moves and overall net worth.

Born: Dec. 14, 1985 (Gaithersburg, Maryland)

Sport: Lacrosse

Career: 13 seasons (2008-present)

Key investments: Rabil Companies, Rabil Ventures, Premier Lacrosse League cofounder

Net worth: $300,000

Bottom line: Paul Rabil is known as the “first lacrosse millionaire” and while his bottom line pales in comparison to others on this list, it’s notable that he’s made his money across such a broad scope of investments. 

Rabil won a pair of national championships at John Hopkins University and carved out a career as one of the greatest Major League Lacrosse players of all time, but he still had to work a full-time job while he played. 

In response, Rabil founded the Premier Lacrosse League, which began play in 2019 and wowed the sports world by securing sponsorships with Gatorade, Adidas, Ticketmaster and Capital One, along with selling a broadcast package to NBC. 

Note: All net worth figures are from Forbes or Celebrity Net Worth. 

Born: April 22, 1986 (Oakland California)

Sport: Football

Career: 12 seasons (2007-15, 2017-19)

Key investments: Beast Mode, Beast Mobile, Oakland Panthers co-owner, Oakland Roots SC  

Net worth: $30 million

Bottom line: Marshawn Lynch made over $56 million in his 12-year NFL career, and instead of spending it, he lived off his endorsement money from deals with Skittles, Progressive, Pepsi, Nike, Microsoft, Activision, FritoLay and Subway.

Lynch was known as “Beast Mode” for his bruising running style, and he parlayed that on-field persona into an off-field Beast Mode lifestyle brand, creating apparel, a retail store and international partnerships. He also launched his own cellphone service.

Now, Lynch lives in Hawaii and has gotten into sports ownership in his native hometown of Oakland with the Indoor Football League (IFL) and United Soccer League (USL) Championship. The man truly is a “Beast,” and he gives back to the community, too.

Born: March 25, 1982 (Beloit, Wisconsin)

Sport: Auto racing

Career: 14 seasons (2005-18)

Key investments: beam (CBD wellness company), podcasts, books

Net worth: $40 million

Bottom line: Danica Patrick built her fortune as a race car driver on endorsements and rightfully so. Television ratings experienced a major spike whenever she was in a race. 

She’s been smart about growing her wealth since her last race in 2018 and made major investments in the growing CBD wellness industry. Patrick participated in the $5 million seed money group for beam, a CBD startup based out of Boston, and is positioned to be one of the faces for a company she has a major investment in.

That’s what you get when you bring in someone who has been featured in more Super Bowl commercials than anyone. 

Born: Nov. 29, 1972 (The Bronx, New York)

Sport: Basketball

Career: 12 seasons (1993-2005)

Key investments: Outback Steakhouse, Papa John’s, auto dealerships, horse racing 

Net worth: $45 million

Bottom line: Jamal Mashburn has figured out a way to turn his basketball money into more money since he retired from the NBA in 2005 after 12 seasons. 

The former University of Kentucky star is part of several lucrative investments and now owns a stake in almost 100 businesses across the U.S., including 24 Outback Steakhouse locations, 37 Papa John’s locations and a glut of car dealerships in Kentucky. 

He’s also a partner in several racing horses with his college coach, Rick Pitino, and Outback Steakhouse co-founder Chris T. Sullivan.