Cover A look at how Stephen Curry builds lasting wealth through smart venture capital, media deals and high-end consumer brands (Photo: Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A look at how Stephen Curry builds lasting wealth through smart venture capital, media deals and high-end consumer brands (Photo: Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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How Stephen Curry blends high-stakes venture capital, Hollywood media and luxury spirits into a modern lifestyle empire
Stephen Curry’s business interests extend well beyond the basketball court. Over the past decade, the NBA star has built a portfolio spanning venture capital, sports ownership, media, consumer products and technology. Rather than treating his off-court businesses as a collection of endorsement deals, Curry has developed companies and investment vehicles that give him ownership interests and a role in building businesses.
Much of that activity is organised through Thirty Ink, the business collective Stephen Curry founded to bring together his commercial ventures, brand partnerships, media interests and investments. Alongside it are specialist businesses such as Penny Jar Capital, an early-stage investment firm, and Unanimous Media, his production company. The result is a portfolio that reaches from cybersecurity and workplace software to professional sports, golf, entertainment and bourbon.
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Thirty Ink is the umbrella for Curry’s business interests
Thirty Ink describes itself as a collective housing Stephen Curry’s business entities, with activities across brand partnerships, media, investments and philanthropy. Curry serves as its CEO, giving the organisation a central role in managing the businesses built around his name and interests.
The structure is important because Curry’s commercial interests are not limited to passive investments. Some are businesses he has helped establish, while others involve ownership stakes, strategic partnerships or venture investments.
One example is Underrated, which has developed basketball and golf programmes aimed at creating opportunities for young athletes. Another is Gentleman’s Cut, the Kentucky straight bourbon brand Curry helped create with John Schwartz and Boone County Distilling Co.
Thirty Ink also brings together Curry’s media activities and other commercial partnerships, giving his portfolio a broader structure than a conventional athlete endorsement business.
Penny Jar Capital takes Curry into venture capital
Technology is another significant part of Curry’s business interests through Penny Jar Capital, an early-stage investment firm anchored by Curry. The firm made its first investment in Syndio in 2021, backing the workplace equity software company in a seven-figure round.
Since then, Penny Jar has built a portfolio across software and technology companies. Its publicly reported investments include cybersecurity companies Zafran and Upwind, as well as companies such as HiveWatch, Local Kitchens, Tokenproof, Ducky and others.
Upwind and Zafran are particularly notable because they give the portfolio exposure to cybersecurity. Penny Jar participated in funding rounds for both companies, although the amount personally attributable to Curry is not publicly disclosed. Public investment databases should therefore be read as records of Penny Jar's participation rather than evidence that Curry personally invested the full amount raised in any particular round.
Curry's involvement with Penny Jar also reflects a move towards investing in businesses at an earlier stage, where the potential return comes from equity growth rather than a conventional endorsement fee.
Sports investments put Curry on the ownership side
Stephen Curry has also put capital into professional sports properties, giving him exposure to the business of sports beyond his career as a player.
In 2023, Curry joined Marc Lasry’s Avenue Sports Fund in the ownership group for TGL’s San Francisco team. The group also included fellow Warriors players Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala. TGL, developed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports, combines professional golf with a technology-driven indoor format.
Curry subsequently became an investor in Unrivaled, the women’s 3-on-3 basketball league founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. His investment was included in the league’s Series A funding round announced in December 2024 and publicly disclosed in March 2025.
These investments give Curry interests in sports businesses where revenue can come from areas such as media rights, sponsorships, ticketing and commercial partnerships rather than player salaries alone.
Curry Brand makes big moves with Li-Ning
Curry Brand is one of the most recognisable businesses associated with the basketball star, but its corporate structure has changed significantly.
The brand launched with Under Armour in 2020, expanding Curry’s relationship with the sportswear company from a signature shoe partnership into a broader footwear, apparel and accessories business. Curry also received an award of 8,823,530 Under Armour Class C shares in 2023, valued at $75 million when granted, as part of the revised relationship between the athlete and the company.
That arrangement did not remain permanent. In November 2025, Under Armour and Curry announced that Curry Brand would separate from the company, with Under Armour releasing the final Curry 13 and additional products through October 2026. Curry retained ownership of the Curry Brand business as it moved towards independence.
By 2026, the next phase of Curry Brand was taking shape through a partnership with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning. Thirty Ink described the agreement as a long-term plan to build Curry Brand as an independent company across basketball, golf and lifestyle products.
The change illustrates an important distinction in Curry’s portfolio: his involvement with a brand can evolve from athlete endorsement into ownership, licensing and broader corporate control.
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Unanimous Media turns Curry’s profile into intellectual property
Curry’s media business adds another layer to the portfolio. He co-founded Unanimous Media with Jeron Smith and Erick Peyton, developing projects across film, television, publishing, podcasts and gaming.
The company’s television work includes Holey Moley, the ABC miniature-golf competition series on which Curry served as an executive producer. Unanimous Media’s broader catalogue has since expanded into documentaries, scripted television and other forms of sports and entertainment content.
This part of the portfolio is particularly significant because media businesses can turn an athlete’s personal brand into intellectual property that exists independently of their playing career.
Earlier investments included esports and technology
Curry’s interest in technology and emerging businesses predates Penny Jar Capital. In 2018, he and Andre Iguodala invested in Swift, the parent company of esports organisation Team SoloMid, as part of a $37 million funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
The investment gave Curry exposure to esports at a time when professional gaming organisations were attracting increasing interest from traditional sports investors and technology companies.
Rather than being an isolated celebrity investment, it fits a broader pattern in Curry’s business activities: backing industries connected to younger audiences, technology, entertainment and sports while taking an ownership position rather than simply appearing as a paid ambassador.
Chonx Tibajia is a senior editor at Tatler Asia’s T-Labs team, where she writes widely on lifestyle subjects including beauty, style, entertainment and travel. She has a long career in journalism, including roles as a columnist at The Philippine Star, and is the founder of the creative platform Pineappleversed. Beyond Tatler, her bylines appear in regional lifestyle and business publications, showcasing a broad portfolio that spans beauty trends, travel guides and culture pieces.
