LeBron James' Blaze Pizza Chain Investment Worth Over $35 Million: Report

LeBron James transformed another small investment into a gold mine. A $1 million investment James and his business partner Maverick Carter — along with financial advisor Paul Wachter of Main Street Advisors — made in Blaze Pizza during 2012 has reportedly grown to $25 million, according to ESPN Tuesday.

Private equity firm Brentwood Associates obtained an unspecified percentage of Blaze Pizza this month that increased the company’s value to about $250 million, sources told ESPN.

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In conjunction with endorsement profits, James’ stake in the company is worth $35 million to $40 million, sources told ESPN. That estimate doesn’t include his deal with owner Larry Levy, who supervised James’ Miami and Chicago franchises. James, who owns 10 percent of the company, reportedly pocketed some of the money from the deal, but the amount is undisclosed.

Paul Wachter, who advised James on other deals, doesn’t typically advise his clients to invest in restaurants. However, Wachter was apparently impressed with Blaze Pizza and its management team.

"We don't typically advocate for our clients to invest in food businesses," Wachter told ESPN. "The risk-reward equation is not generally that great, and there's a lot of grinding and blocking and tackling, and it takes a while for a concept to go global."

After James and Carter made roughly $30 million from a Beats by Dre investment in 2014, they were on the lookout for their next big deal.

"LeBron and I have always been about finding companies that we truly believe in and putting real money into them," Carter said. "We're not talking putting in $15,000 or $20,000. It's real money plus the expertise, understanding and knowledge that we bring, as well as bringing LeBron's name and likeness to the product."

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After James’ first investment in 2012, the Cavaliers star wasn’t permitted to support Blaze Pizza due to his then-deal with McDonald’s. But the news that James was interested in becoming involved in the business was a big deal, according to Rick Wetzel, owner of Blaze Pizza.

"When he invested in us so early on, he established us as the market leader," Wetzel told ESPN. "He put a star on our forehead as a company that was legitimate."

Impressed with the potential of Blaze Pizza, James and Carter decided to end their deal with Mc Donald’s in 2015. James officially endorsed the fast food pizza chain.

"It was a great partnership with McDonald's, we did some great things on television," James said on Carter's web series, "Kneading Dough." "The potential on what we could make if we just put the time and effort into it exceeded what McDonald's guaranteed me."

James positioned himself as spokesman for the pizza company, immediately influencing success within the enterprise. He often showed support for the company by advertising Blaze Pizza to his 37 million Twitter followers.

"Every time LeBron tweets about Blaze, it's like a sonic boom," Elise Wetzel said. "It jump-starts the conversation with tens of millions of people in the U.S. and around the world and leads to a genuine interaction between people who know and love the brand and people who haven't heard of us."