NBA player Luol Deng is trying to ensure he will financially stable long after he leaves the basketball court. During his 15 years in the league, where he has amassed earnings of $151, Deng has been investing in real estate.
The 34-year-old forward now has a more-than-solid investment portfolio that includes real estate holdings in hotels, resorts, condos and apartment buildings and is worth $125 million.
“Deng is part of a new crop of sports stars leveraging their fame and fortunes in new ventures and striking while the iron is hot,” Forbes reported.
“If you know the market and you are using your leverage and doing the right deals, it is really nonstop with the opportunities,” Deng said. “I’ve always had a love for real estate and wanted to do something in Chicago for a long time.”
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Born in Sudan, Deng, who also lived in Egypt and England, moved to the United States to play basketball at age 14. He attended Duke University and after one year studying and playing there, Deng was selected seventh overall in the 2004 NBA Draft.
With his first earnings Deng, began investing in East Africa and London real estate. When he started investing in the U.S., he bought a range of real estate — spec houses in the Hamptons to multifamily units in Baltimore to the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and a luxury resort in the Bahamas. He did so under his company D3N9, which uses his name and number of siblings. D3N9 now employs seven workers.
Deng didn’t go off investing with about advice. He has mentors such as real estate mogul Don Peebles and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He met Dimon though Dimon’s daughter who Deng befriended at Duke.
“Deng’s main sounding board is former Wall Street banker David Gross, who serves as chief investment officer of D3N9, as well as CEO of the Confluent Group, an investment advisory. The two connected in 2014 through a mutual friend while Gross was at Columbia University getting a master’s degree in real estate development. Gross pitched the school on a certificate program for athletes and entertainers investing in real estate. Columbia passed, but Gross partnered with Deng and got the NBA Players Association to sign on,” Forbes reported.
“We talk about players going broke, but we don’t talk about why that is happening,” Deng says. “The symposiums were a way to teach players about real estate and foster better understanding of these kinds of investments.”
When Gross Gross launched the Our Opportunity coalition earlier this year with slain rapper Nipsey Hussle, Deng was an original investor. Opportunity Zone investments were to help revitalize underserved
“Deng was the first hoops star to join Our Opportunity and has helped open the doors to other NBA veterans. Rose, Anthony and Josh Smith have since committed to the project. Anthony, who also invested with Deng in the Virgin Las Vegas, is the face of the investment in his hometown of Baltimore, which includes 91 units in a deal that will close this summer,” Forbes reported.
As far as his basketball career, Deng will be seeking a new contract as NBA free agency.
“I don’t think anyone has invested in real estate to this scale and level of sophistication while they are still an active player,” Gross said of Deng’s real estate portfolio. “Most people wait until they are finished. Luol is going to hit the ground running.”
