The recently retired Baltimore Bullet may be jumping into Silicon Valley’s tech investment pool.
Since he ended his 28-medal run as an Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps has made the news for having an awesome house, secretly getting married, starring in goofy commercials and getting his son to start following in his dad’s footsteps at Baltimore’s own Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center. Now, as he moves away from competitive swimming, he tells the AP he’s considering getting his feet wet in the venture capital world.
“I would love to get involved, whether it’s in a couple little startups here and there, take a little risk, have some fun and see where it goes,” Phelps said in an interview at Intuit’s QuickBooks Connect software conference in San Jose, Calif., in late October. He also discussed his interest in investing with CNBC last month, saying, “You never know what can happen. I love to get involved in small things on the side and have fun with stuff.”
Phelps is sitting on enough cash to get things rolling. He’s reportedly made around $75 million from endorsement deals with Intel, Under Armour, Beats by Dre, Speedo and other companies throughout his career.
Phelps could be the latest world-class athlete to make such a move, joining the likes of Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Serena Williams and Joe Montana.
If his golden goose turns out to be a tangible product, perhaps it will gain some added brand appeal with the “MP” logo used on his swim gear line? Time will tell. As he told the AP, “2017 will be a big year.”
