KING’S POWER: Stephen Curry joins Inc Megazine magazine as ambassador

“He’s a point guard on and off the court,” says @erickjpeyton, co-founder and co-CEO of Unanimous Media, Curry’s Hollywood production company. “A point guard is the captain on the floor, able to take the shots or give up the ball, and that’s exactly what Stephen’s ability is within the business.”Professional athletes have been starting increasingly ambitious businesses for several decades, but Curry’s growing empire takes that trend to a level scarcely seen before. Time was, successful athletes would open a car wash upon retirement, accept a few endorsement deals, and watch the mostly passive income land in their accounts.

Curry, 35, combines them all, with a dozen enterprises that span nearly as many industries. In addition to Unanimous and Underrated Golf, @thirtyink (the name is a reference to his jersey number, and the spelling of Ink with a “k” is intentional, a reference to writing his own story) includes an Underrated Basketball tour and a bourbon brand called Gentleman’s Cut. Head to our link in bio for how @stephencurry30 built a billion-dollar business empire.

For Curry, a sense of being consistently underrated has fueled countless successes—though his background is hardly a hard-luck story. He’s the oldest son of former NBA player Dell Curry, who notched 16 seasons with five teams, most of those years with young Stephen watching in person and running around the locker room. The family had money, connections, and a sprawling house with a full basketball court. While those considerable advantages appear to undercut his against-the-odds narrative, Curry manages to avoid looking phony by simply being a straight shooter on the subject. “I’m extremely grateful to have been blessed with those things,” he says, “but at some point in anybody’s life, I don’t care what demographic you come from, you’ve probably felt underrated. And changing that to make it a badge of honor is what inspires the work that comes behind it.”

If you’re underrated, that is, you have a special kind of motivation to show your doubters a middle finger and beat them. For Curry, the concept resonated on more than just a personal level. He saw the potential for a powerful brand as well as a social mission. There was no single light-bulb moment when he put it all together, but over the past few years a disparate assortment of business opportunities has coalesced into something greater. Link in bio for how @stephencurry30 built a billion-dollar business empire.