Durant's $250,000 Bet on Hugging Face: Could Turn Into $60 Million After 8 Years, a Return of Over 240x

Virgo Beating AI News Flash: NBA Star Kevin Durant Could Make Nearly $60 Million from Hugging Face

Sports Business Reporter Joe Pompliano stated that Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman invested early in Hugging Face. They made a $100,000 seed round investment in 2018 and another $150,000 Series A investment in 2019, totaling only $250,000.

Based on Nvidia's $12.9 billion acquisition price, these two early investments could now be worth over $60 million. The $250,000 turned into $60 million, representing a gross return of over 240 times.

This figure even surpasses Durant's one-season NBA salary. He is currently playing for the Houston Rockets, with a salary of approximately $43.9 million for the 2026-27 season.

Durant later participated in Hugging Face's Series B and Series C funding rounds, but the amount of additional investment has not been disclosed. Therefore, the $60 million and 240x return are only estimates of the value of the earliest $250,000 investments and do not represent all the profits Durant ultimately received from Hugging Face.