Jun 24, 2019

The NBA's real estate mogul

Kendall Baker

Luol Deng. Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Luol Deng has made $151 million playing basketball during his 15-year NBA career. All the while, he's been investing in real estate, amassing an impressive portfolio worth $125 million.

Why it matters: "Real estate might not be as sexy or generate the headlines of athletes pouring money into tech startups, but the potential returns can be much more lucrative," writes Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen.

  • "[And] the new 2017 tax law raises that threshold even higher with the creation of Opportunity Zones ... [which] allow investors to plow recent capital gains into projects or companies in low-income areas in each state."

How it works: There are nearly 9,000 "O-zone" areas across the country, which are required to have a poverty rate of 20% or higher or a median household income that is less than 80% of the surrounding area.

  • "Gains compound tax-free, and there are no limits on how much money you put in and how much tax you can avoid," writes Badenhausen.
  • "Deng and at least a half-dozen NBA stars are part of Our Opportunity, which is a new O-zone fund seeking to raise $300 million this year."

Go deeper: Sports stars dive into tech investing

Go deeper

Axios

Situational awareness

Photo: BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images

Catch up on today's biggest news:

  1. CDC warns it's anticipating spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.
  2. SCOTUS rules that family of Mexican teen killed by border agent cannot sue
  3. Tokyo Olympics "looking at a cancellation" if coronavirus not contained by late May
  4. Mike Bloomberg's partner brushes off NDA concerns
  5. Trump acknowledges lists of disloyal government officials to oust
Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 45 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Axios

Coronavirus spreads to new countries, while U.S. confirms 57 cases

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC, and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens.

Public health officials confirmed Tuesday the U.S. has 57 people with the novel coronavirus, mostly those repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship — an increase they had expected after the passengers were allowed to return home from Japan against their initial advice.

The big picture: COVID-19 has killed more than 2,700 people and infected more than 80,000 others, mostly in mainland China. There's only been two cases of person-to-person infections in the U.S. so far, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now warning that Americans should prepare for a much broader outbreak here.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 1 hour ago - Health
Miriam Kramer

Space tourism gets ready for launch

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Multiple space tourism companies are aiming to send their first customers to the edge of space before the end of this year.

Why it matters: Right now, most revenue in the space industry is tied up in government contracts, but experts say the maturing industry will need tourism to grow into the $1 trillion economy some predict it could be.

Go deeperArrow2 hours ago - Science