NBA star LeBron James is showing no sign of slowing down on his post-retirement plans. While still actively playing for the LA Lakers, James has been engaged in several entrepreneurial moves that are doubling his fortune.
One of his earliest investments was his 2% state in Liverpool FC with his business partner Maverick Carter for $6.5 million in 2011. However, the NBA great recently relinquished his shares for a stake in FSG, along with his business partner Carter and Paul Wachter. According to Liverpool.com, James now owns about one percent of FSG.
In 2018, he became a billionaire and the first active NBA player to achieve that status. The four-time NBA champion is also behind TV and movie studio SpringHill Entertainment, which helped produce “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” a movie he starred in that earned $163 million in box office receipts worldwide.
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In 2015, James walked away from an endorsement agreement with McDonald’s, worth an estimated $15 million over four years, to instead gamble on the fast-growing Blaze Pizza chain, where he’s an investor. He’s taken equity in brands like smart gym maker Tonal and rideshare giant Lyft as well.
Now the NBA star is bringing the blueprint of his business success to the beauty industry with the launch of The Shop Collection, a new male grooming range set to debut in April, according to Cosmetics Business.
The platform said the business was inspired by James’ popular TV talk show “The Shop,” which sees James and other special guests gather in various barber shops to have honest conversations on sports, music, pop culture, and so on. The show, now with six seasons, has seen guests like Snoop Dogg, Drake, and David Beckham.
To cater to the grooming needs of men, Cosmetic Business noted that the Shop collection includes a shampoo, facial lotion, deep-conditioning beard cream, conditioner, shave cream, face wash, aftershave-toner and a styling pomade.
What is more, it will launch into 1,600 Walmart stores in the U.S., with prices starting from around $10, according to the platform. The range was formed through a partnership between beauty manufacturer Parlux and The Springhill Company, the multimedia brand created by James and Carter.
James is among many celebrities who have entered the beauty industry. Beyonce launched a hair care line on February 20. In 2019, Tracee Ellis Ross also launched Pattern, a natural hair brand focused on “curl conscious and textured” customers.
More and more Blacks or people of color are venturing into the beauty industry in the U.S. but research shows that there are still challenges when it comes to equity. McKinsey has said that even though Black Americans spend $6.6 billion on beauty, they represent 11.1% of the total U.S. beauty market.
It said Black beauty brands “capture only 2.4 percent of revenue in the overall beauty market, lagging far behind the 11.1 percent of the Black consumer spend on beauty products, and the 12.4 percent of Black people in the U.S. population.”
