Rob Gronkowski — Image source: Wiki Commons
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Famous tight end Rob Gronkowski made millions playing in the NFL, but his best investment returns came from Apple stock, which he forgot he bought.
Apple tried — and failed — to invest in the NFL through a Sunday Ticket rights deal, but now one of the league’s most financially astute players is admitting to investing in Apple. Rob Gronkowski hasn’t famously spent the millions he made during his 11 NFL seasons, but he says he made an early investment in Apple without any advice.
That was in 2014, when he was playing for the New England Patriots, according to Fortune magazine. While he had a financial adviser, he also had a man building his house — and that man wouldn’t stop talking about Apple stock.
“Every time I saw him when we were building the house, he kept saying, ‘Buy Apple. Buy Apple,’ ” Gronkowski said. “And after the 50th time, I did it. And let me tell you, it’s the best investment of my life.”
“I’d never been in stocks before,” he continued. “I didn’t really know how stocks worked.”
“So I called my financial advisor. I said, ‘Put $69,000 in Apple,’” Gronk explains. “My own money, no advice, from the guy who built my house here in New England.”
Gronkowski says he actually forgot he did it, and when he checked two years later, he found he’d done pretty well. That initial $69,000 was worth $250,000 at the time.
Perfect Timing
The developer couldn’t have picked a better time to reward Gronk, and it was a moment most investors missed. Apple had a bad financial year in 2013, what Bloomberg would call one of the worst mistakes in finance, and investment managers predicted 2014 would be no different.
Instead, the year was marked by the introduction of the Apple Watch, as well as strong Mac sales and a very successful launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. This led to Apple beating expectations for its October earnings, after which the stock price rose sharply.
Gronk Still Owns Apple Stock
“I have over $600,000 in Apple stock right now, and it’s all from an investment I made in 2014 without having a clue what I was doing,” Gronkowski said, “just listening to the guy who built my house here in New England.”
There’s no word on whether the developer invested in Apple. But Gronk is happy with his deal.
“Let me tell you, he built my house and gave me all the money back and told me to invest in Apple,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tim Cook has been selling off some of his Apple shares. He sold it in October 2024 for about $50 million.
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