Kobe Bryant was one of the richest athletes of all time with a wealth estimated at $500m (£380m) due to a legendary NBA career spanning 20 years when he died aged 41 on Sunday.
The former LA Lakers player died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, north west Los Angeles along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Maria Onore.
Bryant played his entire career for the Los Angeles Lakers where he was a five times NBA champion.
Bryant is listed as ninth in the list of the richest athletes by Forbes with a net worth of $500m (£380m).
When he retired in 2016 he had the highest career earnings in the NBA and banked $680m (£520m) in salary and endorsements during his two-decade career.
He had the highest salary in the NBA for the last six years of his career and on retiring retained endorsements with Nike, Hublot and Panini.
Kobe Bryant dead aged 41 in helicopter crash
He signed for the LA Lakers aged 17 and retired as an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time member of the All-NBA Team and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team.
On retiring he moved away from straight endorsements to becoming a business owner and went into partnership with entrepreneur Jeff Stibel where they initially set up a $100m (£77m) venture capital fund called Bryant Stibel to invest in technology, media and data companies.
They had already invested in 15 companies together since 2013 including sports media website The Players Tribune.
Kobe was travelling with at least three others on his private helicopter when it went down and crashed in flames.
He was well-known for his use of helicopters to travel when he played for the Lakers. He would commute from Newport Beach to the Staples Center in his Sikorsky S-76 chopper.
Bryant is survived by his wife Vanessa and his three other daughters Natalia, Bianca and Capri.
