David Robinson retired from the NBA with a record that earned him a spot as one of the greatest professional basketball players in the history of the league. While shooting hoops on the court, he made a hefty amount of money from endorsement deals that could last him a lifetime. However, he decided to start a business venture to enable him to continue supporting his community.
During his active years in the sport, only a small fraction of black children made it to college compared to white kids; this was one of the things that concerned David greatly and kept him awake at night.
He picked the inspiration to bridge the racial graduation gap from his parents, who were determined to send all their children to college. After pursuing this goal with unprecedented passion, his good gesture to invest in a business to make an impact in black communities is now raking in billions of dollars.
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David is a former Spurs player who won two NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals. During the height of his career, he chalked significant achievements, including the NBA Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, and NBA Rookie of the Year.
In 2013, he was inducted into the International Basketball Federation Hall of Fame, according to V Foundation for Cancer Research. During this period, he sponsored scores of children in black communities into college, and when he retired in 2003, he explored ways he could still support more children to go to college.
A study by the Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2023 State of Higher Education report showed that black students have a lower chance of completing many certificate programs because of racial discrimination. Black student enrollment has plummeted over the last 10 years, with only 35 percent having associate degrees, according to CNN.
Reports from sources such as the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that though there was some degree of improvement in the enrolment of black students in colleges from 2000 to 2016, a gap in enrollment still exists compared to the white majority. The total college enrollment rates for White increased from 39 to 42 percent, while that of Blacks inched from 31 to 36 percent.
In 2008, David founded Admiral Capital Group with his close friend, Daniel Bassichis, a former expert at Goldman Sachs. Daniel was also a member of the board of his school, Carver Academy. The goal was to create a pool of resources to support his efforts to impact the community, according to Forbes.
The firm, which has rebranded into Vero Capital, has invested more than $700 million of capital in transactions valued at more than $1 billion. It specializes in real estate, upscale hotels, office buildings, and investment in profitable businesses, according to Real Admiral.
The facility owned by Vero Capital also includes Centerplate, one of the largest hospitality companies in the world. The former basketball star is also the co-owner of the Jaguar Land Rover dealership in Texas. It is reported that his net worth stands at $200 million.
