NBA All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo has a strong investment portfolio, but that wasn't always the case. When Antetokounmpo was a young player, he thought spreading his NBA salary across half a dozen different banks to get Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protection was the best way to safeguard his wealth.
Fortunately for Antetokounmpo, his boss, Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, showed him how to build a diverse investment portfolio that he could rely on both during and after his career. Antetokounmpo's original method of wealth-protection may have been unorthodox, but it showed that he was already thinking about his life after basketball. Business Insider profiled how Lasry helped Antetokounmpo mature into an experienced, knowledgeable investor.
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He arrived in the U.S. in 2013 as an 18-year-old with a four-year, $8 million contract. Naturally, he took his money to the local bank to open an account, but then doubts began to creep in about how secure his money would be. “I had no money growing up, so I asked them," Antetokounmpo told Bloomberg in 2023. "’Is my money safe?’"
Antetokounmpo opened accounts at half a dozen different banks after finding out each account was insured for up to $250,000. Lasry, who was already a billionaire investor before buying the Bucks in 2014, told Bloomberg how he guided his young player in the right direction. His advice was blunt, but his logic was unassailable.
“I’m like, ‘Giannis, you can’t be having accounts at 50 different banks,” Lasry said. “Let me tell you something. If JPMorgan goes under, your little dinky banks are going to go under too. Let me explain what you should buy, you should buy U.S. Treasuries, you should buy this.'”
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He wasn't wrong. Most market observers would take JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) becoming insolvent as a sign that the entire U.S. economy is at risk. It's very unlikely that any of the regional banks in Milwaukee where Antetokounmpo was depositing his money would survive in that scenario.
Lasry attributed Antetokounmpo's initial tendency to protect his wealth by spreading it across several banks to his experience as a child in Greece after the Great Financial Crisis. The country suffered through a sovereign debt crisis that the government responded to with punishing austerity measures. There was widespread fear that banks could become insolvent. From that perspective, it makes sense that Antetokounmpo would minimize risk by spreading his money across FDIC-insured bank accounts.
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He's come a long way since his rookie season. Antetokounmpo has won an NBA championship, two MVP trophies, and been named to nine All-Star teams. According to Basketball-reference.com, Antetokounmpo has earned just over $284 million in his career. He's still happy that he took Lasry's advice. Antetokounmpo also found other knowledgeable people to help him expand his investment horizons.
“There’s way smarter ways to do it, keep your money safe,” he told Bloomberg. Antetokounmpo is literally putting his money where his mouth is. In 2023, he partnered with Calamos CEO John Koudounis to create an exchange-traded fund. That's quite a transformation from the fresh-faced rookie who thought opening multiple FDIC-insured bank accounts was the best way to keep hold of his hard-earned money.
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