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Deng’s career earnings on the court are $151 million.
But the Sudanese-born Deng is not waiting for the end of his playing days for his next big score. He’s been investing in real estate almost since the time he entered the league in 2004 and has amassed an impressive portfolio—hotels, resorts, condos and apartment buildings—worth $125 million.
“If you know the market and you are using your leverage and doing the right deals, it is really nonstop with the opportunities,” Deng says.
He started with investments in East Africa and London before putting his money to work in the U.S. in everything from spec houses in the Hamptons to multifamily units in Baltimore to the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and a luxury resort in the Bahamas under his company’s banner, D3N9, which is a play on his name and number of siblings.
Deng says he has leaned on mentors like real estate entrepreneur Don Peebles and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He was good friends with Dimon’s daughter at Duke, and the banking titan was based in Chicago as CEO of Bank One and welcomed Deng to the city when he was drafted by the Bulls.
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.
NBA salaries have soared over the past decade, but the stigma of the player blowing through all of his money in retirement remains; an oft-cited 2009 Sports Illustrated article on the financial perils of pro athletes claimed that an estimated 60% of NBA players were broke within five years of retirement. Deng hoped to change that trajectory with his real estate symposium for players. The inaugural two-day event in 2015 attracted a dozen players and focused on investing in commercial real estate. Expanded investment summits took place the next two years.
“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.”
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Originally Posted by gauchojake
