Former NBA star Yao Ming, acting as a promotion ambassador of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, answers questions in a media interview in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 29, 2015. (Photo: China News Service/Du Yang)
After bidding farewell to professional athlete life, former Rockets big man Yao Ming kept busy building his business empire by investing in different industries. From opening a family restaurant to investing in public traded companies, his investment map expanded over the years. Not all were successful but his portfolio never ceased to grow.
Here are some of Yao's businesses.
1 Yao Restaurant and Bar in Houston and Yeeha Restaurant in Shanghai
Yao Ming invested $1.5 million in a restaurant, 'Yao Restaurant and Bar' in Houston. The restaurant was the sports celebrity's attempt to enter the food and beverage business.
The Yeeha restaurant, covering 1,500 square meters, is the second Yao restaurant following the first one opened in Houston, US and it's decorated with basketballs, sports T-shirts and photos with Yao Ming's autograph.
Yao's parents invested in the restaurant and so too did their friends, who played basketball for the Shanghai Basketball Team in the 1970s.
2 Yao Family Wines
After establishing Yao Family Wines in 2011, the winery had bore fruit in the form of two Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons in the same year and quickly expanded into a successful business.
Yao Ming launched Yao Family Wines in 2009 in Napa Valley, California. He joined other Chinese people who in recent years had acquired vineyards in wine-producing regions of the United States and were producing wine for China and the US.
Yao also crowd-funded on Crowdfunder, with a $3 million goal. The funds will be used for a tasting room in Napa, a tasting salon in Shanghai, Ming's hometown, and marketing, according to the company's profile on Crowdfunder.
Yao Family Wines is not inexpensive. The prices of reds have ranged from about $238 a bottle for Yao Ming Napa Valley, to around $1,000 a bottle for its premium Yao Ming Family Reserve, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 4. A cheaper wine introduced in China in 2013 in response to the government's emphasis on frugality retailed in China for $85.
3 Byejoe
Byejoe in Houston, a private enterprise owned by a handful of American and Chinese investors, including Texas' Yao Ming Investments Inc, imports baijiu from China but modifies it for the US market.
From 2011 to 2013, Byejoe spent two years in product research and development, and to obtain the more than 60 different certificates and licenses necessary to sell liquor in the US. Byejoe started sales during the Chinese New Year in 2013.
4 Music website "Top 100"
Yao had invested $3 million yuan in a music website 'Top 100" in 2006. The investment later proved to be a failure after the website shut down for various reasons a few years later.
The website's business model was to cooperate with record companies across the world and offer users free music services.
5 NBA Yao Basketball Club
In February 2014, NBA China and Yao Ming launched the NBA Yao Basketball Club, providing basketball training and fitness programs for boys and girls of all skill levels, while also teaching the importance of teamwork, leadership and communication in a fun basketball environment.
6 Shanghai Sharks
Yao Ming took over his former club the Shanghai Sharks, which was approaching financial ruin, in 2009.
Yao's management team and the Shanghai Sharks, the name of which had been changed to the Shanghai Oriental Basketball Club, signed a framework agreement on share transfer.
7 Ablues Design
Yao Ming is investing in a Shanghai exhibition company called "Ablues Design" and holds 0.6 percent of its shares.
In early July this year, the company had finished the application for IPO. Yao is its seventh biggest shareholder.
