One of the two most famous examples of a professional athlete crossing over to achieve impressive success in the real estate industry is former NBA star Magic Johnson. Since permanently retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996, through his Magic Johnson Enterprises company, Magic has been a force for more than two decades as an entrepreneur in the field of urban real estate development.

The DeBartolo name is well known in both the real estate and sports worlds. Edward DeBartolo Sr. launched the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., which for many years was one of the largest regional mall owners in the United States.

The company’s assets were eventually transferred to DeBartolo Realty Corp., a publicly-traded REIT headed up by Edward DeBartolo Jr. In 1996, the REIT was acquired by Simon Property Group, creating the firm that still stands as the largest owner of regional malls in the country.

DeBartolo Jr. has since amassed a new portfolio under DeBartolo Holdings.

However, DeBartolo also had some trouble with the law. He was implicated in a 1998 corruption case involving former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. DeBartolo eventually pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony. He received a pardon earlier this year from President Donald Trump.

In the sports world, DeBartolo Jr. owned both the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins. He sold the Penguins back in 1991. He was the principal owner of the 49ers until 1999. After that, his sister and brother-in-law Denise DeBartolo York and John York took control of the team as co-owners.

In addition to Magic Johnson, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach is another former pro that not only made a fortune in the industry, but also left his mark as a pioneer. His eponymous The Staubach Co. grew to be a real estate brokerage juggernaut. The former Dallas Cowboy eventually sold his company to Jones Lang LaSalle in 2008. Staubach has a reported net worth of more than $600 million.

Billionaire Malcolm Glazer amassed a vast portfolio of assets across industries. His respective rises in real estate and professional sports have occurred throughout his career until his death in 2014. The assets are now owned by his six children.

On the real estate side, Glazer’s First Allied Corp. focused on the retail real estate industry. Today, his son Kevin Glazer is the founder, CEO, and owner of Glazer Properties, which owns, acquires, manages and leases commercial real estate throughout the United States.

In the sports world, Glazer owned both the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise and the English Premier League’s Manchester United. Glazer purchased the Buccaneers in 1995 for $192 million. He acquired Manchester United by buying out other shareholders over a three-year period from 2003 to 2005. Both teams are still largely controlled by his family.

Like Roger Staubach, Smith is a former Dallas Cowboy Hall of Famer turned real estate pro. Smith is the chairman of E Smith Advisors, a real estate services and solutions company. Smith has earned a CCIM certification. The full-service company was formed in 2018 in partnership with Newmark. Smith got his start in commercial real estate by working directly with Staubach on some initial deals.  

Brothers Herb and Mel Simon are well renowned in the real estate industry for launching the Simon Property Group empire, which is now overseen by Mel’s son, David Simon. The brothers launched the firm as Melvin Simon & Associates in 1959. And in the decades since it through development and acquisitions it has become the largest and most successful regional mall owner in the country.

On the sports side, the Simon brothers purchased the NBA’s Indiana Pacers franchise back in 1983. Herb Simon still owns the Pacers and in addition controls the WNBA’s Indiana Fever as well as the USL’s Reno 1868 FC.

Since his retirement from football, former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson has been an active buyer and seller of both residential and investment real estate. As early as 2006, during his playing days, he took part in some shopping center development. In one deal in 2014, Johnson sold a home he owned in Calabasas, Calif., to Kourtney Kardashian.

Stephen Ross is another investor that has parlayed a successful career in commercial real estate into a prominent place in the professional sports world.

Ross founded The Related Cos. in 1972 and in the nearly 50 years the company has risen to become one of the most successful multidisciplinary investors and developers in the industry. Most prominently, the firm is known for building the landmark Time Warner Center and Hudson Yards projects in Manhattan. Related's success helped Ross become a multibillionaire. 

Ross used some of that fortune to buy a 50 percent interest in NFL's Miami Dolphins and Dolphin Stadium in 2008 for $550 million from Wayne Huizenga. Then in 2009 he bought an addition 45 percent stake. 

Former NBA star Grant Hill is one of the latest athletes to make the jump into commercial real estate. In early December, Hill joined the board of directors of Empire State Realty Trust.

In one of the more offbeat crossovers to the commercial real estate world, former men’s and women’s tennis Grand Slam champions Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf (who are married), have helped launch funds that invest in charter schools and charter school real estate.

David Robinson, a former star and Hall of Famer for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, has been an active real estate investor through his firm Admiral Capital Group. Robinson has invested across property types. In 2010 his firm teamed up with USAA Real Estate to launch a series of value-add real estate funds targeting multifamily, office, retail and hotel properties in top 25 markets. In August, in an interview with CNBC, Robinson talked about what he expects for office real estate when workers are able to return en masse.  

Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All Star point guard, has had a very eventful post-basketball career. In addition to serving two terms as mayor of Sacramento, Calif., and being married to Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, Johnson has had a successful career as an entrepreneur, including investing in real estate. He currently serves as the CEO of Seven Inc., a consulting and investment firm.

An All Star in his major league baseball playing days, Maurice “Mo” Vaughn now serves as the managing director and co-founder of Omni New York LLC. Omni “acquires, rehabilitates, builds and manages quality affordable housing throughout the United States.” In early March of this year, just days before COVID-19 lockdowns were to begin, officials gathered to celebrate the completion of a $172-million rehab of affordable housing communities in Newark, N.J. completed by Omni.

Oscar De La Hoya compiled a 45-6 record as a professional boxer. After amassing medals on the amateur circuit, including Olympic gold, De La Hoya won title belts at multiple weight classes during his career.

Starting in 2005, De La Hoya, through his Golden Boy Enterprises company, tried his hand at real estate, among other business ventures. He formed a new company, Golden Boy Partners, “to revitalize and redevelop urban Latino communities.” Initially it had plans to invest $100 million over three years “primarily in California cities with large Latino populations located in underserved, blighted areas.”

It is unclear where those plans went. In recent years, Golden Boy Enterprises has focused on boxing and MMA promotions.

Retired four-time Super Bowl champion and NFL Hall-of-Famer Joe Montana most recently made headlines by stopping the kidnapping of his granddaughter. Aside from that scare, Montana has amassed wealth in real estate and operating his own vineyard. He earned $25.5 million during his playing career. But his net worth is now north of $100 million. Last year, he listed his Napa, Calif. estate for $29 million.

Stan Kroenke may boast the distinction of having the most diverse sports and real estate empire.

Kroenke (who married Walmart heiress Ann Walton) was Chairman of THF Realty, an independent developer, investor, owner, and manager of real estate. (THF stood for “To Have Fun.” Kroenke and former partner Michael Staenberg co-founded the firm together, but had a high-profile split back in 2012.

On the sports side, Kroenke has ownership stakes in several franchises and venues. Through Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, his sports venue holdings include the Pepsi Center in Denver, home to the NBA’s Denver Nuggets the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., the home park of Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids.

In terms of sports franchises, Kroenke owns all or partial stakes in the Nuggets, Avalanche and Rapids as well as the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the Arena Football League’s Colorado Crush, the National Lacrosse League’s Colorado Mammoth, the English Premier League’s Arsenal F.C. and two esports franchises, the Los Angeles Gladiators and the Los Angeles Guerrillas.  

A two-time NBA Champion with the Houston Rockets, Hakeem Olajuwon has enjoyed a successful career as a real estate investor since retiring after the 2001-02 season. He first gained notice in 2006 “buying high and selling higher.” As of 2015, Olajuwon had reportedly completed more than $100 million in real estate deals primarily in the Houston market.

Alex Rodriguez enjoyed a successful—if controversial—career as a Major League Baseball player. The three-time MVP won a World Series as a member of the New York Yankees. But he also was suspended for the entire 2014 season for violating baseball performance-enhancing drugs policy.

Off the field, Rodriguez has most prominently emerged as a successful broadcaster. But in addition he’s cobbled together a real estate portfolio under his Miami-based A-Rod Corp. In all, the firm has purchased more than 15,000 apartments across the U.S. as well as making investments in startups.

NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal was a legend on the court, winning four NBA titles and a league MVP and three NBA Finals NBAs in addition to many other accolades and honors during his career. Since he has retired, he’s also been a part of TNT’s popular NBA studio broadcast crew.

On the real estate side, O’Neal has helped develop apartment communities. In one high-profile deal, O’Neal built a 22-story, $80 million high-rise apartment building in Newark, N.J. In Orlando, meanwhile, O’Neal invested in buying mortgages from owners of foreclosed homes and selling the houses back on more affordable terms.  

Billionaire Zygmunt "Zygi" Wilf heads up Garden Commercial Properties, a privately-run owner of retail and office assets throughout the United States. The firm has kept a low profile over the years, but maintains portfolio reportedly of more than 25 million sq. ft. of assets. Wilf also has some other real estate holdings.

In 2005, Wilf and five partners purchased the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings franchise for a reported $600 million. He has owned the team ever since and helped engineer a deal with the state to construct a new stadium for the team, U.S. Bank Stadium, that opened in 2016.

Wilf, his brother Mark and his cousin Leonard also became minority owners of the Nashville SC  Major League Soccer club in 2017.

Matt Capps pitched in the major leagues for eight years as a reliever for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals and Minnesota Twins. He was an All Star in 2010, a year when he compiled a career high 42 saves.

He earned about $18 million as a player and dabbled in real estate a bit. And after his playing days were over, Capps moved full time into the commercial real estate world. In 2018, he hooked up with Highgate Partners, a firm that invests in value-add office and medical office properties in the Southeast.

Doug Brien spent more than a decade as an NFL placekicker for seven franchises. He won a Super Bowl his rookie year as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

Like some other successful athlete investors, Brien began buying real estate as a player and then segued to the industry full-time after retiring from sports.

Off the field, Brien has had even more success. He is the CEO and co-founder of Mynd Management, a proptech firm serving the single-family rental housing market. Brien co-founded Mynd in 2016 with Colin Wiel.

According to his company bio page, Brien has been named one of Goldman Sachs’ Top 100 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs and earned Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Mark Teixeira spent 14 years in the major leagues as a member of the Texas Rangers, Atlanta braves, Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees. He hit more than 400 home runs, made several All Star game appearances and won several Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

Teixeira stepped away from the game after the 2016 season and launched Urban Creek Partners, an Atlanta-based real estate development firm focused on urban, infill, new development and redevelopment opportunities.

Justin Tuck played as a defensive end for 11 seasons in the NFL, predominantly as a member of the New York Giants. During that time he was a key cog in two Super Bowl-winning squads.

But even during his playing days Tuck had his eyes on his post playing career. Tuck graduated from the Wharton School with an MBA in 2018. He now works as a vice president in the private wealth management division at Goldman Sachs.

In 2019 he was featured at the Super Bowl Weekend event “Real Estate Investing for the Modern Athlete” where panelists “covered types of real estate, ways to secure funding and common mistakes in investing.”

Current President Donald Trump had, to say the least, a high-profile career as a real estate developer prior to being elected the United States 45th president.

He enjoyed mixed success with many developments panning out over the years. He also took liberal advantage of bankruptcy laws on deals that didn't go as well.

That celebrity helped launch many other business ventures in varied fields and culminated in his success as a reality television star hosting The Apprentice. 

Trump also enjoyed various dalliances with the sports world over the years. That included multiple appearances over the years with professional wrestling. In addition, in 1984 Trump acquired the USFL's New Jersey Generals, which he ran for two years marked by paying top dollar to lure players like Doug Flutie and Herschel Walker away from the NFL. (Trump, however, ultimately played a key role in the demise of the league.)

Years later, Trump made an attempt to buy the NFL's Buffalo Bills franchise, but was unable to close the deal.