Kevin Durant’s $250K AI Bet Could Turn Into a $60 Million Hugging Face Payday

Kevin Durant may be closing in on one of the most successful athlete investments ever. The NBA superstar and business partner Rich Kleiman reportedly invested a combined $250,000 into Hugging Face during its early funding rounds. Now, with Nvidia reportedly agreeing to acquire the AI company for $12.9 billion, that early bet could be worth more than $60 million.

The potential return would be remarkable even by Durant’s standards. A $60 million payout would be worth more than the $43.9 million salary he’s scheduled to earn with the Houston Rockets during the 2026-27 NBA season. 

Durant Bet on Hugging Face Before the AI Boom

Durant and Kleiman began backing Hugging Face years before generative AI became one of technology’s biggest investment themes.

Sports business analyst Joe Pompliano reported that the pair invested approximately $100,000 during Hugging Face’s seed round and another $150,000 during its Series A. 

Public reporting confirms Durant participated in Hugging Face’s early funding rounds, although the exact amounts haven’t been independently confirmed. His involvement stretches back to the company’s early years, when Hugging Face looked very different from the AI powerhouse it is today. 

Hugging Face originally started as an AI chatbot company before pivoting into an open-source machine-learning platform used by developers to share models, datasets and AI applications.

That pivot turned out to be extremely valuable.

$250K Could Become More Than $60 Million

If Pompliano’s estimates are accurate, Durant’s early investment would represent an extraordinary return.

• Reported early investment: $250,000
• Potential value: More than $60 million
• Estimated return: Roughly 240x
• Potential profit: Around $59.75 million before taxes and other considerations
• Nvidia’s reported acquisition price: $12.9 billion

However, the $60 million figure should be treated as an estimate, not a confirmed payout.

Durant’s exact ownership stake isn’t public, and early investors are typically diluted as startups complete additional funding rounds. Durant and Kleiman also participated in later Hugging Face financing, making it difficult to calculate exactly how much their total position is worth. 

The Nvidia transaction also hasn’t closed, so no $60 million check has been confirmed.

Nvidia Wants One of AI’s Most Important Platforms

Nvidia reportedly agreed to purchase Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, which would make the transaction one of the chipmaker’s largest acquisitions. 

The deal would give Nvidia control of one of the most important distribution platforms in open-source AI.

Hugging Face hosts massive collections of AI models, datasets and development tools, making it something of a GitHub for artificial intelligence.

The reported $12.9 billion price is nearly three times Hugging Face’s $4.5 billion valuation from its 2023 funding round, which Nvidia itself participated in alongside investors including Salesforce and Google. 

Hugging Face reportedly generates approximately $150 million in annualized revenue, meaning Nvidia would be paying a substantial premium to gain a bigger foothold in the software and model side of the AI ecosystem. 

Thirty Five Ventures Has Been Quietly Building a Tech Portfolio

Durant’s potential Hugging Face payday isn’t an isolated investment.

He and Kleiman founded Thirty Five Ventures in 2016 and have since built a portfolio spanning more than 100 companies.

Their investments have included major technology and consumer companies such as Coinbase, Robinhood, Postmates, DraftKings, Acorns and Whoop, alongside Hugging Face. 

The strategy has helped Durant build a business portfolio that extends well beyond basketball.

His Hugging Face investment could now become one of its biggest wins.

Durant May Make More From AI Than Basketball This Season

Durant has already earned more than $500 million in NBA salary during his career, but the Hugging Face investment shows how early-stage technology investing can create returns that even rival superstar sports contracts. 

Turning a reported $250,000 into more than $60 million would be impressive enough.

Doing it by backing an AI startup years before ChatGPT transformed artificial intelligence into a global investment frenzy makes the timing even more notable.

The final numbers still depend on Nvidia completing the acquisition and Durant’s actual ownership stake.

But if the estimates hold, KD may make more from one early AI investment than he’ll earn playing an entire NBA season.