In a CNBC preview segment hosted by Becky Quick, sport and media reporter Alex Sherman breaks down Stephen Curry’s off‑court empire, housed under the holding company Thirty Inc. The discussion highlights Curry’s status as the greatest three‑point shooter and a top‑earning athlete, then shifts to his business portfolio: a partnership with Under Armour (including the back‑story of his move from Nike), a bourbon brand, a media company, a marketing consultancy, a youth golf league, and a philanthropic foundation that supports Oakland students. Sherman outlines three takeaways for viewers – understanding Thirty Inc., hearing Curry’s candid post‑retirement plans, and gaining insight into his character – and notes that the piece found little “dark side” to the star. The segment also teases behind‑the‑scenes footage and a forthcoming full feature airing at 9 PM ET/PT.
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4-time NBA champion Stephen Curry has dazzled fans on the basketball court, earning his place as the greatest 3-point shooter of all time. But off the court, he's building an equally impressive legacy through his business venture, Thirty Inc. CNBC got an exclusive look at the business behind Stephen Curry.
He's a 2-time MVP, a 4-time NBA champion, and he's almost indisputably both Stephen Curry and statistically and artistically the greatest shooter of all time.
Ridiculous!
Curry is not human. It's the artistry. It's the fact that he changed the idea of how the game should be played. When I first coached him, the first few months, he would take these shots and I would think, "What is he doing? Like, this is insane." And then after a few months, I'm like, "Well, he's shooting 40%." on 30-foot threes.
But Curry's aspirations in life go beyond basketball. For the past decade, he's been building a brand.
For Under Armour, we're the underdog brand.
And a business. In fact, many businesses.
We look at it as more of like a house of brands.
A media company.
Action.
A bourbon brand.
Cheers.
A marketing agency, a golf league for kids, and a philanthropic foundation that gives back to students in Oakland.
To support the next generation of super talented kids.
And those are just the beginning of Curry's off-the-court aspirations.
I wanted to kind of create my own entity that I could build true value, and hopefully that's something that'll be sustainable, you know, when I'm done playing too.
Joining us now is CNBC sport and media reporter Alex Sherman. And Alex, I think no matter who you are, no matter who your team is in the NBA, it's hard not to love Stephen Curry, even if you're not a Golden State fan. I'm a Stephen Curry fan because what he has done, the hard work, picking up against doubters, and just the constant impressive numbers and stats that he puts out and the person he is.
Yeah, that's part of the piece really, Becky, is that you've got this guy that is, I think, beloved by fans, but also really beloved by marketers because he's so marketable. And I mean, and, and there's the dollar signs are there to show it. He's this last year, I think Sportico ranked him as the second highest paid athlete of all athletes in the world. He's by far the highest paid NBA player, not just salary, which he has been on a year-to-year basis since 2017, but also if you add in all the sponsorships and so forth, it's well over $100 million per year at this point. But he also has this portfolio of businesses, partially of which he's put some of that money into it. But he's got Curry Brand with Under Armour. And then you heard it a little bit in that sizzle reel for the, for full piece which will air at 9 PM tonight, but he's got a bourbon brand, a media company, a marketing consultancy, these sports leagues for kids. He has a charitable foundation, and it's all housed within this thing called Thirty Inc. And so there are 3 takeaways I hope people that will watch tonight to come away with. One is to learn a little bit about Thirty Inc. Two is I ask him a lot of questions about what he wants to do after he retires from playing basketball, and he gives me some pretty candid, revealing answers there. And then 3, I hope people take away a little bit where they learn something about the guy himself. And look, I tried to dig around to get some sort of dark side on Stephen Curry, 'cause like, I didn't want this to be some sort of like grand old puff piece about Stephen Curry. So I asked a lot of people like, give me something here. I came away with it being like, the guy you see on camera is pretty much the guy you see off camera. Like, I do not think there's much of a dark side to this guy.
One of my favorite stories about him is, how he came to Under Armour, how he left Nike and went to Under Armour.
That's in the piece.
That was complete— that's such a diss.
So one of the people that we spoke to was the CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Blank, and he rolls out the whole story about how Under Armour, from Under Armour's perspective there, because what you're referencing is sort of the Nike perspective of it, where there was this presentation that kind of went wrong and Stephen Curry was a little taken aback by it.
They said his name wrong. They had like—
The wrong presentation and they were marketing for several athletes. He, remember, he was already with Nike at that time, but he was low on the totem pole. So Under Armour was trying to get Stephen Curry, and they actually used his teammate, like a little-known teammate whose name was Kent Bazemore. And what Kevin Plank says in the piece, you'll hear it, is that they started showering him with gifts in the locker room so that, 'cause he was right next to Curry, so that Curry would look over and be like, "What is this company? Well, why are they giving him all of this stuff?" They make him like, "This is what I want." They treat him very, very well. Right, and it worked. That's the great part of it. The whole pitch worked, so that's part of the piece too.
Well, I can't wait to see it. I was out in San Francisco when you were shooting the stuff on the yacht with him, which are very cool pictures on this. Very jealous of everything you pulled together on this, and I can't wait to see it tonight.
And there's some behind-the-scenes stuff that I will release tomorrow in my weekly newsletter for CNBC Sport about hanging out with him and some stuff that didn't make the piece. You can sign up for that at CNBC.com/Sport.
Alex, thank you very much. Again, Alex Sherman. And by the way, you can catch Curry Inc. That is tonight at 9 PM Eastern and Pacific time for West Coast viewers, right here on CNBC.
