From $250,000 to $60 million! Durant's AI investment is more profitable than his NBA career
Author: Curry, Deep Tide TechFlow
The intersection of technology and sports often requires just one remarkable venture capital investment.
Kevin Durant, the NBA superstar known as "The Grim Reaper" who strikes fear into his opponents, is also a formidable force in the investment world.
On August 27, renowned sports media personality Joe Pompliano revealed a set of compelling capital data on X: Kevin Durant and his business partner Rich Kleiman invested approximately $250,000 in the open-source AI platform Hugging Face. Following the news from industry media The Information that Nvidia plans to acquire the company for $12.9 billion, the paper return on this early investment is expected to exceed $60 million.
This figure even surpasses Durant's annual salary of approximately $43.9 million for the 2026-27 season with the Houston Rockets. The tweet quickly sparked discussions, and a "100x report card" detailing Durant's venture capital achievements went viral in the crypto and venture capital circles.
Betting on the "GitHub of AI," Outpacing Annual Salary with Seed Round Investment {#article-toc-33596-2}
Founded in 2016, Hugging Face successfully transformed from an early teen chat application to today's open-source model community, earning the title of "the GitHub of AI" in the industry. According to disclosed investment clues, Durant's family office, Thirty Five Ventures (abbreviated as 35V), participated in the company's $4 million seed round in 2018 (approximately $100,000) and the Series A financing in 2019 (approximately $150,000).
In August of this year, the company completed its Series D financing with a valuation of $4.5 billion. This week, rumors surfaced that Nvidia made a bid of up to $12.9 billion for acquisition. According to Pompliano's estimates, if the deal is finalized at that valuation, this $250,000 early stake could yield an astonishing return of over 240 times. He couldn't help but remark in his tweet that this is "one of the best investments in sports history."
Unveiling Durant's Impressive Venture Capital Track Record {#article-toc-33596-3}
If Hugging Face's transformation from $250,000 to $60 million is a game-winning shot, then the comprehensive venture capital report unearthed by the X account @burrytracker completely reveals Durant's true cards as a "veteran investor" in Silicon Valley.
In this widely circulated investment portfolio review, comparing the valuations at the time of his investments with current or peak valuations reveals astonishing multiples. Apart from the legendary Hugging Face (+23,900%), his bets on other tech and crypto giants remain impressively robust:
- Coinbase (+5,275%): 35V decisively entered Coinbase when its valuation was only $1.6 billion, accompanying the crypto exchange to its peak and witnessing its valuation soar to $86 billion on its first day of trading.
- Whoop (+7,980%): Quietly entered this sports wearables giant when its valuation was only $125 million, and now its valuation has surpassed $10.1 billion.
- Robinhood (+1,675%): Participated in the Series D round at a valuation of $5.6 billion, and now this "retail trading hub" for U.S. stocks and crypto is nearing a market cap of $100 billion (approximately $99.4 billion).
- Mercury (+5,100%): A banking service platform for startups, entered at a valuation of $100 million, now skyrocketing to $5.2 billion.
- Overtime (+2,480%): A new sports media darling, followed from an early valuation of $31 million to $800 million.
From crypto infrastructure to internet brokerage, and now to AI and digital health, Durant's capital reach has long surpassed the traditional framework of star athletes merely earning endorsement fees as mascots.
This investment portfolio, which includes tech newcomers like Rubrik and Postmates, would undoubtedly be considered a top-tier resume even within the professional Silicon Valley VC circle.
Countdown on the Court, A Capital Engine {#article-toc-33596-4}
Although some professional investors in the comments pointed out that the table directly equates "the historical peak increase in company valuation" with "personal paper gains," ignoring the dilution of equity from multiple rounds of financing and exit timing, it is undeniable that Durant's visionary insight has been fully validated by the market.
Unlike contemporaries like LeBron James, who lean towards brand and team equity, or Stephen Curry, who prefers media and consumer investments, Durant has clearly carved out a more Silicon Valley geek-oriented venture capital path.
Now, this veteran player for the Houston Rockets has entered the twilight of his career. While an athlete's physical abilities and peak performance inevitably enter a countdown, his 35V capital empire may just be starting to operate at full speed. As early as 2010, the budding Durant openly stated on social media that instead of wasting time in clubs, it was better to invest his money and energy.
Years later, the $60 million paper myth of Hugging Face may still await final settlement, but he has set an example for many athletes who retire only to face bankruptcy and extravagant spending.
Basketball will eventually stop bouncing, but the compounding of capital will never retire.
-- Price
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