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(Gossip-Grind News) Kobe Bryant Invests In Sports Drink Company:

Los Angeles guard Kobe Bryant has begun preparation for life after basketball. The NBA star hopes to follow in the entrepreneurial footsteps of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson before him. Under Kobe Inc., Bryant has made his first equity investment in the upstart sports drink BodyArmor.

According to Black Enterprise:

Bryant will sit on the board of directors and own more than 10% of the company, according to Forbes and an inside source familiar with the negotiations. His investment makes him the brand’s third largest shareholder behind BodyArmor co-founders Lance Collins and Mike Repole (who co-founded Vitaminwater and Smartwater, which was sold to Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion in 2007). Bryant would only say that he invested millions of his own money, but it is reported that it is expected to be in the $6 million range.

Launched in 2011, BodyArmor has generated $10 million in revenue over the past 12 months with sales more than doubling each of the past two years. Each of the brand’s six flavors contains coconut water, two and a half times the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks and are low in sodium.

Bryant, in an exclusive interview with ESPN, talked about forming his own company, called Kobe Inc., and building a team around him to start new businesses and evaluate investing in others. Even though this past November, Bryant signed a two-year, $48.5 million extension with the Lakers, he is keenly focused on life after pro-ball as an entrepreneur.