KOBE Bryant turned the millions he made during his years with the Los Angeles Lakers into over a billion dollars after retiring from the sport.

He did this through endorsement deals, branching out with a variety of media projects and above all else by founding a venture capital firm that currently has assets of over $2 billion.

Kobe's billion-dollar fortune will likely go to his wife Vanessa and their three surviving daughters after he lost his life in a helicopter crash in January,

That crash also claimed the life of his daughter Gianna and seven others, and is still under investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Chartering helicopters was one of the few expensive habits Kobe had during his lifetime, as was his collection of cars.

Kobe owned a custom Lamborghini Murcielago that was fitted with an automatic transmission for wife Vanessa ($400,000), a Bentley Continental ($200,000) and an Azure Mulliner ($350,000), a Ferrari F430($200,000) and a 458 Italia ($329,000), a Lamborghini Aventador ($445,000), 1963 Chevy Impala that was a gift from Vanessa, and, as a retirement gift from his friend Snoop Dogg, a purple-and-yellow (and priceless) Pontiac Parisienne Convertible.

He also owned a few family-friendly cars as well over the years, including a Cadillac Escalade, Range Rover and a Jeep Wrangler.

One thing he did not own in bulk however was real estate.

He lived with his wife Vanessa and their children in a home he had purchased in 2008 from his agent for $9.45 million, selling off two other properties in the same Newport Beach neighborhood over the past decade at a profit.

The only other real estate he owned at the time of his death was the office space for his businesses, which he bought for $5.8 million in 2015.

He chose instead to invest and save his money, which is why two years after Forbes valued his net worth at $800 million, Kobe passed away as one of just seven athletes to be worth a billion dollars.

The other six men in that rarefied club are Michael Jordan ($1.85 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Arnold Palmer ($1.3 billion), Jack Nickalus ($1.2 billion) Floyd Mayweather ($1.1 billion) and Michael Schumacer ($1 billion).

Kobe was the youngest draft pick to ever play in the NBA at the start of the 1996 season, which began just two months after the high school phenom turned 18.

Over the course of the next 20 years, he would just over $325 million in salary alone, negotiating a seven-season, $136 million contract in 2004 that was followed by even more lucrative extensions.

He led the team to five championships during this time, and at his peak earned $30 million for the 2013-14 season.

Only Kevin Durant has earned more than Kobe, though should Lebron James play one more season he too would pass the Black Mamba.

Kobe saved his most impressive move for his post-NBA years however, when he founded the venture capital firm Bryant Stibel.

In just four years, that firm has come to manage over $2 billion in assets after backing a number of impressive companies.

Kobe launched the company with just $100 million and then watched as the money came pouring in thanks to investments in burgeoning startups including Alibaba, Dell, The Honest Company and Epic Games.

It was Epic that proved to be the most lucrative, delivering a Fortnite fortune for the firm when they were offered the chance to invest in one of the final rounds of financing before the company went public.

This was no vanity project either for Kobe, who matched his co-workers MBAs with all he learned in the NBA.

During his time with the Lakers, Kobe was making just as much off the course during this time, due to his endorsement deals with a hoist of blue-chip American brands.

Sony, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz and Nintendo were just a few of the companies that teamed up with Kobe, but it was his deal Nike that made him a global phenomenon.

It comes as as surprise however that Kobe made far less in his deal with Nike than other top athletes who had contracts with the athletic apparel juggernaut.

His annual contract with the company earned him $8 million, which ranked him behind tennis stars Roger Federer ($10 million) and Rafael Nadal ($10 million), golfers Tiger Woods ($10 million) and Rory McIlroy ($25 million), as well as fellow NBA stars Durant ($8.5 million) and LeBron James ($12.5 million).

Maria Sharapova also took home more than Kobe ($8.75 million) while Serena Williams, arguably the greatest player of all time, matched Kobe with her deal ($8 million).

Serena was able to negotiate a higher rate with each contract extension after her initial deal had run its course, something that Kobe seldom did over the course of his career.

It is not known for certain why this was the case, but it could have had something to do with the fallout her suffered after he was accused of raping a Colorado woman.

The criminal case against him was ultimately dropped and Kobe made a very public apology with his wife Vanessa by his side.

He settled a civil suit with the woman, and Vanessa received an 8-karat, purple diamond ring worth $4 million.

Nike, who had signed Kobe just days before Kobe was accused of sexual assault, stood by him, but one brand quickly jumped ship,.

McDonald's terminated their contract with Kobe after just three years, having brought him onboard to help launch the campaign for their now infamous slogan: "I'm loving it."

This turned out to be for the best in the end however, steering Kobe towards deals where he could hold an equity stake in a company rather than just take home a paycheck.

It was with this in mind that he became one of the largest backers of BodyArmor in 2014, and a member of the company's Board of Directors.

His investment in the brand paid off big in the end, with his $6 million investment in BodyArmor resulting in a $200 million windfall for the third-largest shareholder when Coca Cola bought a minority stake in the company.

The basketball star purchased his 10 percent stake in BodyArmor through his newly formed company at the time, Kobe Inc.

He was not doubt looking to the future, especially since he was off the court and on the bench for the first 10 months of that year as he healed from a lateral tibial plateau fracture in his left knee.

"There is finality to my career and now is time to put those plans into motion," Kobe told Forbes at the time.

He then explained how his career had helped prepare him for this next step, despite the fact that he skipped college ton enter the draft.

"I learned not to have ownership in something that you are not going to be able to oversee and manage,” explained Kobe.

“You need to delegate, but ultimately it must be your vision that is driving things.”

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The $200 million from his investment in BodyArmor, combined with the $325 million he made as a Laker and the $350 million he took pocketed from endorsement deals, put his fortune at $860 million by 2018.

That extra $120 million, and then some, would come from his stake in Bryant Stibel as well as Granity Studios.

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