Ty Cobb’s Early Investment in Coca-Cola Made Him More Money Than Baseball Ever Could Have
While Ty Cobb was known for being one of the great players of baseball’s early era, his off-field behavior was also infamous. What’s legend and what’s true isn’t really clear, but what is evident is that Cobb was one of MLB’s top stars at the time of his retirement.
Of course, Cobb didn’t play at a time when professional athletes made millions as they do today. The center fielder was able to parlay his earnings into quite a hefty payday, but it was due to a savvy investment decision he made.
The MLB career of Ty Cobb
Cobb played in an era before the home run became as popular as it is today. During most of Cobb’s career, home runs were a much rarer occurrence. According to Baseball Reference, Cobb retired after 24 seasons and 4,189 hits.
He spent most of his career as a member of the Detroit Tigers, though he did log time as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics.
The slugger retired with a career batting average of .366, the highest career average of all time. He won an MVP Award, 12 batting titles, and a Triple Crown. Cobb was also part of the first class of Hall of Famers when the institution opened.
The numbers are impossible to deny: Cobb was one of the sport’s most influential figures from its early days. He set the standard for contact hitters after him, like Pete Rose and Ichiro Suzuki.
Ty Cobb’s philanthropic efforts
Cobb left a complicated legacy. While rumors persisted about some uglier sides of his personality for years, it was proven that the man had a philanthropic side.
According to WealthManagement.com, Cobb set up a scholarship fund in his name. He believed all baseball players should receive an education before turning pro and saw to it that both of his sons attended Ivy League universities.
Of course, Cobb’s charitable efforts were largely helped due to the massive fortune he amassed. But believe it or not, baseball wasn’t the source of much of Cobb’s riches. There would be a much savvier financial decision he’d make that would help him in that regard.
An early investment set Cobb up for life
Investing can be a tough gambit for professional athletes. If they trust their money with the right adviser, they can make it last for years. A mistake could leave them destitute. Cobb was a fairly successful investor, and one of his best investments came from a company we all know today: Coca-Cola.
According to a Yahoo article speculating whether Cobb was the most famous athlete investor of all time, he made over $491,000 during his playing days (the equivalent of around $7.4 million today).
Cobb died with over $12.1 million in his investment portfolio — equivalent to over $104 million today. In 1907, he bought 300 shares of stock in Coca-Cola. Over the next 20 years, he expanded that to 24,000 shares. When Cobb died, he owned $2.1 million worth of Coca-Cola stock.
Coca-Cola wasn’t the only winning company Cobb invested in. He also invested in a company called United Motors, which later converted to General Motors stock.
Cobb showed that the same acumen he displayed for baseball, he had for investing. It’s how his off-the-field earnings were able to dwarf what he was paid for playing baseball.
