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From earning $12 an hour to more than $4 million-a-year: how David Warner is making the most of his business acumen
ALOK SONI ,
You will be good at nothing when you grow up.
This is what a teacher told David Warner while handling his high school report card where he was ranked 34 among 44 students.

Twelve years later, the 29-year-old cricketer is on his way to be one of the most successful batsmen of Australia today. He says,
I practiced what I knew best and that was Cricket.

But the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain is more than a cricket maestro.
Warner is the first Australian cricketer in 132 years to be selected for a national team in any format without experience in first-class cricket. Apart from his cricketing excellence, the Australian media has also praised Warner for his wealth management skills in the last one year.

He has also been in the news whether it was buying the Lamborghini Huracan for $450,000 or splashing $6.25 million for a house which was later sold for more than $7 million.
Recently, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli in a press conference spoke about the similarities between him and David. Twenty-seven-year-old Kohli, who was ranked #3 in the list of 50 most marketable athletes in the world, said,

As a leader, you try to execute things what you ask your team-mates for, first on the pitch. Even on the field if you want someone to give 120% efforts, we want to give that to every ball when we field.
Kohli’s 919 runs in the ninth edition of Indian Premier League might have overshadowed Warner’s 779 runs averaging at almost 60. But the eight fifties in 16 matches so far by Warner, shows that he can give Kohli a run for his money in terms of consistency.
ipl david warner virat kohli
David warner(L) and Virat Kohli®

Warner – the investor
Warner is on a $2 million-a-year contract with Cricket Australia, but he makes majority of his bucks elsewhere. His contract with SRH fetched him $1.1 million for the two-month-long tournament. An article published in The Daily Mail about Warner puts things in the right perspective,
What many don’t realise is that Warner has countless projects off the pitch after setting up lucrative endorsements and savvy investments, including three properties, six race horses, a vodka line and a book range for children — and he isn’t showing any signs of slowing.

The newspaper went on to say that he is set to become Australia’s richest ever cricketer and is on track to have an empire worth more than $50 million before he is 40.
We tracked a few of Warner’s investments which are also the secret to his wealth managements.

666 Pure Vodka: In October 2015, Warner invested capital to become a “significant shareholder” in Australian brand 666 Pure Tasmanian Vodka. He said,
As an active investor I can see a lot of potential in Australia’s growing artisan spirits sector.
Earlier in May 2016, the liquor brand was launched in India.

2. The Kaboom Kid series: Warner has authored a series of books for kids based on his childhood adventures. The first book of the series was published in December 2014 and so far six books have been published with two more on their way.

3. Kaboom bat: There is also a Kaboom-trademarked Gray-Nicolls bat for which Warner received a royalty (on every Gray-Nicolls Kaboom bat sold) and a retainer from the company as an ambassador. Junior bats and sets are big sellers for him.

4. The real estate Moghul in the making: Warner believes that one can’t go wrong on bricks and mortar. Probably that’s why he’s on a real estate buying spree. His first property purchase was a two-bedroom apartment in a block of four in Maroubra for $562,000 in 2009, which he sold in 2014 for $650,000. He owns two apartments in Matraville, the first bought in 2010 for $695,000 and another in the same Bunnerong Road complex in 2013 for $685,000. In 2014, he purchased a prime property for $6.25 million, only to sell it off early this year for more than $7 million. And just before selling it off, he bought another one by the ocean in Maroubra for just shy of $4 million. He mentioned in an interview,
The hard thing about life is that sometimes you’ve got to gain on someone else’s loss.
5. Race horses: Warner owns six race horses which roots from his genuine interest in sports. One can find him posting regular updates about the same.

According to a report by Daily Telegraph, Warner has trademarked his Kaboom brand for toys, clothing, sporting goods, and food products, such as energy bars and protein shakes. He also earns from his association with brands, including Asics, LG, and the Nine Network, as well as Cricket Australia sponsors CBA, VB, KFC, and Optus. Warner leverages his 1.2 million twitter followers along with his presence across other social media channels to make his reach wider and more appealing.
A corrected man
But Warner wasn’t always like that. He spoke about his gambling habits in an interview. He mentioned that eventually, counselling helped him change his mindset from spending to saving

In his childhood, he once earned $12 an hour and today, David Warner is the exemplar of rags-to-riches success, emerging from a housing commission estate to become the Australian cricket’s sensation.

If it’s Kohli for India, Warner can certainly be the man of the moment for Australia and given his current form and dedication towards the game, he can become one of the greatest the game has ever seen.

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TAGS
DAVID WARNER DAVID WARNER IPL DAVID WARNER WEALTH INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE IPL FINAL ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE SUNRISERS HYDERABAD VIRAT KOHLI
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alok Soni
Alok Soni prefers to keep his bio short owing to a dearth of creativity. Feel free to reach out to him at alok[at]yourstory[dot]com or follow on twitter @aloksoni

STORIES
Run machine Virat Kohli is scoring big time on the business field, one venture at a time
ALOK SONI

A part of the Chinnaswamy Stadium had gone quiet seeing the visitors marching towards victory. Will they snatch victory from the home team? A few minutes later, after change of over and fielding positions there was a huge roar from the crowd. The scoreboard still read the same, with little hope for the hosts. But the mere presence of Virat Kohli at the boundary had an electrifying impact on the crowd.
virat kohli royal challengers

Virat Kohli, Captain – Royal Challengers Bangalore, cheered by the crowd in Chinnaswamy Stadium in an IPL match
The following tweet describes Virat Kohli’s current form the best.

This certainly reminds us of how Jack Fingleton, long-time Australian cricketer and journalist, once described Sir Don Bradman–
Only a batsman, knows how difficult it is to score a century, but Don Bradman made that poor meat and he made the scoring of fifty in a Test match, once considered a splendid feat, go almost unrecognized.

Kohli’s 919 runs in the ninth edition of Indian Premier League (the most in a season by any batsman) are a mere extension to the show he started in January 2016 in Australia and continued across the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup earlier this year.

He has been the backbone of many successful chases by India and Royal Challengers, Bangalore, this year. He has scripted victories as if it’s all controlled in his head and he’s the writer of these games. He’s the hero India needs and deserves at the moment.

Kohli – the businessman
We have seen Kohli transform from a young brat to a responsible and inspiring leader who leads by example. But little is known about his businesses and investments, which are growing off the field with his growing responsibilities on field. And little to our surprise, he’s excelling equally in them.
In the 2015 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list released in December, Kohli was ranked seventh (based on entertainment-related earnings and fame) with yearly earnings of Rs 104.78 crore. From 2014, Kohli started investing in multiple business opportunities. He sees these investments as opportunities.
While announcing the investment in the ISL team in September 2014, he said,
This association has two sides to it for me. On the one hand, I am excited about football as a sport. It is my second favourite sport after cricket and when I realised there is an opportunity to be associated with the FC Goa team, I took it up. It is also a business venture of sorts for me. Let’s face it, cricket will not last forever and I felt this was a good business opportunity.

Kohli holds more than 10 per cent in the Indian Super Club. His friend and manager Bunty Sajdeh, Founder and CEO, Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment, had mentioned that they were exploring eight-10 business ideas out of which two-three will work out for investments.
Kohli has a fairly diverse portfolio but he invests in businesses he understands. Here are six businesses Kohli has invested in (or started) over the last couple of years:

Wrogn – Youth fashion brand Wrogn was launched in November 2014. It’s co-owned by Kohli and Universal Sportsbiz. Currently, the brand retails through 75 Shoppers Stop across the country. The company is looking to open 20 exclusive brand outlets (EBOs) in 2016 and 100 EBOs in the next three years through the franchise route.

Virat Kohli launching wrogn
Chisel – In April 2015, Kohli started his own chain of gyms and fitness centres under the name Chisel. The brand is jointly owned by Kohli, Chisel Fitness, and CSE, the sister concern of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment, which is the agency that manages Kohli.The Kohli-backed fitness startup is targeting young information technology workers and looking to introduce technology-enabled workout routines. Targeting 100 centres across the country by 2018, the Bengaluru-based company is planning to launch its own fitness devices as well.

Sports Convo – Kohli is as an investor and brand ambassador of London-based tech startup Sport Convo. It is a place where sport fans can connect and interact about their favorite sports and current news topics. In December 2015, Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale announced his support for Kohli’s social networking startup.

FC Goa – Kohli’s first investment at the age of 25 was in the much hyped ISL franchise FC Goa. Considering the association mid-way between sweat equity and outright investment, industry sources pegged Kohli’s investment in the franchise at under Rs 1 crore a year owning less than 25 per cent stake.

UAE Royals – Joining the Indian Premier Tennis League bandwagon, Kohli became co-owner of the UAE Royals, which is led by Swiss great Roger Federer, in September 2015. At the time of investment, Kohli said,
I am a huge fan of Roger Federer and with him joining the UAE Royals, my decision to be on board with the team was firm.
He believes that the format of the IPTL will drive further interest in the game of tennis.

Bengaluru Yodhas – Kohli became the co-owner of Pro Wrestling League’s franchise Bengaluru Yodhas in December 2015.

Apart from the above ventures, Kohli is actively endorsing 13 brands at the moment. He’s also associated with Privyplex and launched Fanbox earlier this month. The platform lets fans connect and interact with celebrities.

In an interview recently, he spoke about his ‘boring’ schedule – ‘eat, sleep, train, repeat’ which he has been following for quite some time now and which is responsible for his consistent performance. His hard work and dedication have brought laurels to himself and his team. And with time, he’s establishing himself as a successful businessman as well.
There are more reasons for you to follow this 27-year-old youth icon who is not only driven by passion and aggression but also defines them.
(with inputs from Aparajita Choudhury and Dipti Nair)

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